Retro: Pelé, the King is gone

Considered by many to be the greatest player in the history of football, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé, died on Thursday December 29, 2022 at the age of 82, leaving all of Brazil in mourning.

Football has lost its King. The legendary Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, died on Thursday December 29, 2022 at the age of 82. He had been fighting for several months against intestinal cancer, and died at the Albert-Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo, where he had been treated for a little over a month.

REI PELÉ 👑👑👑 pic.twitter.com/epP8zZHRYr

— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol) December 29, 2022

Pelé is considered by many to be the greatest football player of all time. Only Diego Maradona was able to challenge this title in the 20th century, and we can now add Lionel Messi, without doubt, since the Argentinian in turn climbed to the roof of the world.

The World Cup, Pelé is the only player to have won it three times. It was during the 1958 World Cup that this 17-year-old boy burst onto the world, enchanting the planet with his extraordinary physical and technical qualities. Four years later, injured, he only played two matches during the Seleçao’s new coronation, but his 1970 World Cup, ended with a masterpiece against Italy (4-1), allowed him to return at the top. The images are known to all football lovers.

3 – The only player to have won the FIFA Men’s World Cup on three occasions is Pelé, who was victorious in 1958, 1962 and 1970 with Brazil. Champion. pic.twitter.com/xFDHZfrpTL

— OptaJoao (@OptaJoao) December 29, 2022

Pelé wrote most of his legend with the Brazil jersey. But if he was the first huge global football star, the Auriverde genius never played in Europe. He spent almost his entire career with his club Santos, before ending up in the United States, with the New York Cosmos. With Santos, he went on gala tours, like a rockstar, with matches back to back, which can explain the discussions about his total goals: he claims 1281, but there are only a little over 700 for official meetings.

But beyond the numbers, the goals and the titles, there is the impression that Pelé left. A precursor, obviously, who will have made football grow. And an entire sport is in mourning, not just Brazil.