Edson Arantes do Nascimento, called Pele, died Thursday after a long bout with cancer
Twenty years ago, a gang of armed thieves stopped a car at a red light in Sao Paulo, Brazil. As they were in the process of evicting its occupants, they recognized one of them – Pele. The crooks apologized and sent the car on its way.
His style could best be described as everything. Pele did everything you could do with a soccer ball as well or better than anyone else. He was preposterously fast, agile, powerful, as good without the ball as he was with it, two-footed and lethal anywhere within 30 yards in front of goal, and probably behind it. Great players have a special instinct that tells them where to be. Pele knew when to be. The bigger the game, the better he was.
After the final whistle went, Pele burst into heaving sobs. He was consoled on live TV by his older teammates. How could you not fall in love? Brazil won a second World Cup in 1962, and a third in 1970. In that last major outing, Pele scored a headed goal in the final over Italy’s Tarcisio Burgnich. Though he was past his prime, America loved Pele, just as he was loved everywhere else. They were less interested in his sport. After Pele left, the league faltered and then went into terminal decline.
But his love affair with the rest of the world was uncomplicated and everlasting. Along with Muhammad Ali, he continued to shape perception of what a global icon should look like long past his playing days. No world leader stopped traffic in more countries than he did. Wherever Pele went, they lined the streets.
There will be better players. There may already have been. By virtue of winning the World Cup in Qatar, many have already passed the ‘best ever’ crown to Argentina’s Lionel Messi.
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