Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele) is a legend and quite rightly so. I watched the Netflix movie about him and he explained his struggles, disappointment and successes. He sounded like an ordinary man but his success showed he wasn't an ordinary man, he was a God in Brazil and to the footballing world.
Pele had everything when he was playing in his active years. He had the pace, the dribble, the determination, the energy, the vision and even the finish. When he started, it's easier for anyone to say he was selfish because he had that wonderful eye for goal and during the later part of his career, he dropped deep and started influencing games with precision and passes and still, deadly eyes for goals. What a legend he is.
In the midst of the political turmoil the people of Brazil suffered at that time, he gave hope through football to everyone. He put Brazil on the map and made everyone have something to cheer about despite being under a political dictator as at then. He was a neutral man, never supported any political party but that worked against him because he was seen as someone who couldn't use his influence to stop bad government and he didn't allow that to stop him from giving joy to his people.
He used football to give escape to the Brazilians and he was a proud Brazilian as well. He promised his father that he would win the World Cup for him after the disappointment his father; Dondinho had in the 1950 World Cup after Brazil lost to Uruguay by a solitary goal. This showed him as a man of his words and he worked hard to attain that status as he won 2 World Cups back to back.
He proved to be just a man as he got injured in his 3rd World Cup in 1962 and also the subsequent one; 1966 that took place in England. He felt he was unlucky and called it quit on going to the World Cup. It was not fear or pressure neither was it lack of competition that made him reach this decision but he felt the fun was being taken out of football as most teams tried to get him injured and get like 4 players to mark him out. It was getting more physical and it was sniffing the fun out of the game for him since he enjoyed playing football for fun.
The dictator at that time convinced him or coerced him into going for the next World Cup which he already promised he wouldn't go for but he was worried. He wanted to do well and he sure did well. He won his 3rd World Cup for Brazil and in his playing career, he amassed 1,279 goals in 1,363 games and that's the stuff legends are made of.
He scored his 1,000th goal through a penalty against Vasco da Gama with his Santos side and that solitary goal was enough for the win and his remarkable feat.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento is a legend of football and his kind would take a long while to find due to what he did for Brazil, what he means to them. He is a national treasure and a living legend. That's what football should be about; giving hope in the midst of hopelessness and he did that to perfection. He played his first World Cup at the age of 17 and at that young age, he carried the hope and dream of a whole country on his shoulders and thrived. What a legend.
Images were snapshots taken from my phone camera from the Netflix Movie.
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