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The sports world mourns, Pele dies: Who was the "King of football"

2022-12-29 20:11:22Sport SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The sports world mourns, Pele dies: Who was the "King of football"
Pele

The "remaining" of football, the legend of Brazil, Pele, has passed away at the age of 82. Pele, the Brazilian "king" of football, who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most important sports figures of the last century, passed away this Thursday.

He has been called the best player of all time and is also called the "King of Football".

Who was the "King of Football"

Pele was born in October 1940 in Tres Coraçoes, Brazil. His real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, named after the great American inventor Thomas Edison. Even he himself did not remember how he got the nickname "Pele", which he did not like. However, it was this name that would turn into a real football symbol, which according to a survey in the 70s, was the most popular brand in Europe after "Coca Cola".

Pele's father was a professional soccer player and maybe this was one of the reasons that gave birth to such a great love of soccer in the little boy, but his family was so poor that they didn't even have money to buy a ball. Little Pele often played until late in the street with a rag ball.

Then Pele started playing with a youth team, where his talent caught the eye of Waldemar de Brito, a former member of the Brazilian national soccer team. De Brito took the 15-year-old to Santos, which at the time was a mid-tier team, but which would become one of the biggest names in Brazilian football after his arrival.

Pele scored his first goal as a professional footballer before he was 16 years old. In his first full season for Santos, Pele put the ball in the net 32 ​​times, being the top scorer. Thanks to this, at the age of 17, he was selected to be part of the Brazilian national team.

The world would be introduced to Brazilian talent for the first time at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. He failed to play in the first two games, but in the quarter-final he scored the winning goal against Wales, and in the semi-final he scored three goals in Brazil's 5-2 victory over France. In the final, where "Seleçao" triumphed with the same result against the host country of the Cup, Pele scored two goals. After the match, the teammates held the boy who had made his country win the World Cup trophy for the first time. The legend was already born.

The sports world mourns, Pele dies: Who was the "King of football"

After the World Cup, the young superstar received very tempting offers from European clubs, but the president of Brazil at the time, Jânio Quadros, declared Pele a "national treasure" and made it almost impossible for him to play anywhere else.

At the following World Cup in Chile, Pele was injured in the second leg after scoring a goal in the first leg, being forced to watch the rest of the tournament from the bench. But that didn't stop the Brazil team from winning the World Cup for the second time, thanks to another star who replaced Pele, Amarildo.

Four years later, at the 1966 World Cup in England, rough tackles from opposing defenders caused Pele to get injured again and Brazil were eliminated in the first round.

Despite this failure, Pele's fame only grew. In the late 1960s, opposing sides in Nigeria's civil war decided to hold a two-day truce, just to see Pele play in a match in Lagos. The press also announced that the Shah of Iran waited three hours at the airport to have a brief meeting with this football wonder.

Brazil and Pele would make a triumphant return at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. "The King", as Pele had already begun to be called, scored four goals, including one in the 4-1 final victory over Italy. Brazil thus received the World Cup for the third time, making this trophy their own forever.

The sports world mourns, Pele dies: Who was the "King of football"

Pele announced his retirement from football in 1974, but a year later was persuaded to play for the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League. During the time the Brazilian played there, this championship had the highest viewership in its history.

Pele played his last game in 1977. In total during his career he scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games, almost one goal per game, 12 of which in 14 World Cup games, again an average of about one goal for the match.

But leaving the sport did not fade the legend of the Brazilian. In 1999, together with Diego Armando Maradona, he was declared the best footballer of the 20th century. And indeed, one of the most difficult questions to answer in the world of sports is who is the greatest of all time: Pele or Maradona.

Much has been written and said about Pele, but perhaps the most accurate description is the one that the "King" made for himself: "I was born for football, just as Beethoven was born for music and Michelangelo for painting."

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