The world is two days old without Pele, the first real 'star' of the game of football. With Maradona deceased in the year 2020, the death of Pele brings an end to the iconic duo's existence on the planet, which is no more the same as it used to be. But as Pele said at the time of Maradona's death, he might be playing football with Maradona in heaven.
Pele was the undisputed G.O.A.T. of the game for quite a long time, and his record of winning three World Cups is going to stay for quite a long time.
He was an agile dribbler, but it never seemed mechanical; with the ball on his feet, he was Lionel Messi with the grace of Zinedine Zidane; when it comes to shooting power and heading, he would have made Cristiano Ronaldo jealous; with his commanding presence in the field, even Franz Beckenbauer and Johann Cruyff would have been unable to match his greatness.
"Pele was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic," as Johann Cruyff quipped, seems to be one of the most accurate descriptions of Pele, as scoring a whopping 655 goals in 700 official games, that too playing in an era where physical and rough and tough football was the norm, and that playing as a second striker is no easy feat.
There have been a lot of discussions about Pele's legacy and whether staying entirely in Santos with a brief stint in the USA is enough to earn him G.O.A.T. status.
However, it is not often discussed that the Brazilian league in that era was quite on par with Europe in terms of quality and overall competitiveness.
Pele mesmerised a generation of fans and has been one of the principal reasons behind football being promoted as a global game. However, it might be debated whether he is the greatest footballer of all time or not. Denouncing his entire legacy because of these reasons isn't a rational thing at all.
There are thousands of quotes from the greats of his era, who thrived in Europe, to delineate the greatness of Pele, among whom Puskas, Beckenbauer, and Moore are among the most notable.
Much of his magic is lost, as most of his exploits have not been properly recorded; however, what is recorded is still poetic.
One cannot help but be struck with awe at his assist against Italy at the 1970 FIFA World Cup final, where, after receiving a pass, he didn't even look at the incoming Carlos Alberto, who was coming from the flanks; he just gave a pass exactly at the goalscoring spot, which Carlos Alberto put at the back of the net.
That assist signifies Pele's attitude toward the game: effortless, elegant, yet effective. He knew what he was doing, and he didn't stress it in the slightest bit, and Italy, the nation known to have produced the most defensive geniuses, failed to catch up.
He also is one of the few players who humiliated defensive geniuses like Bobby Moore and Franz Beckenbauer. In a friendly against West Germany, he made the Kaiser fall on the ground with his magical feet, something without much flexing of the muscles that look exceedingly natural, with arguably the greatest defender of all time looking utterly destroyed.
In the 1958 final against Sweden, Pele's goal was nothing short of magic. He eased past Gustavsson and put the ball at the back of the net; the ball did not even drop from his feet, a scenario that looked so magical yet not because it was done by Pele, as things like this seemed like routine work from 'O Rei.'
Pele's greatness cannot be described only through a few matches and only by his goals. He was equally adept at creating goals from scratch, and as no statistics regarding assists exist from that era, it is quite difficult to quantify that as well. However, looking at his numerous clips from both Santos and the Brazil National Football Team, the fact becomes more than evident.
Pele was physically strong, and this physical edge helped him to outclass players with ease as this combination of technical skills as well as raw physical strength is something that has been unmatched so far in the history of football, and judging by the looks of it, it seems that it would not be replicated anytime in the near future.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento's death is equivalent to the death of magic in the game, the death of the story of rags and riches, the incredibly beautiful tale of overcoming poverty and reigning at the top of the world.
There sure will never be another Pele; football as we know it would never have been the game it is now without him.
