Pelé

2022 - 12 - 29

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Financial Times"

Pelé, football star and global symbol of Brazil, 1940-2022 (Financial Times)

One of history's greatest players helped his country win three World Cups in 21-year career.

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Brazil legend Pelé, one of the greatest footballers ever, dies aged 82 (Irish Examiner)

Pelé, the Brazilian king of soccer who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century, died Thursday ...

He changed his mind and was rejuvenated in the 1970 World Cup. He led the Cosmos to the 1977 league title and scored 64 goals in three seasons. 1, 1977, in an exhibition between the Cosmos and Santos before a crowd in New Jersey of some 77,000. Pelé likened the save — one of the best in World Cup history — to a “salmon climbing up a waterfall.” Later, he scored the opening goal in the final against Italy, his last World Cup match. He went to the 1958 World Cup as a reserve but became a key player for his country’s championship team. Brazil was knocked out in the group stage and Pelé, angry at the rough treatment, swore it was his last World Cup. He scored in the final and set up Carlos Alberto with a nonchalant pass for the last goal in a 4-1 victory over Italy. When he visited Washington to help popularize the game in North America, it was the U.S. Despite his youth and 5-foot-8 frame, he scored against grown men with the same ease he displayed against friends back home. Pelé’s fame was such that in 1967 factions of a civil war in Nigeria agreed to a brief cease-fire so he could play an exhibition match in the country. “He is key for Black people’s pride in Brazil, but never wanted to be a flagbearer.” He was carried off the field on teammates’ shoulders after scoring two goals in Brazil’s 5-2 victory over the host country in the final.

Pelé, Brazilian soccer star and only player to win the World Cup ... (CNBC)

Brazilian football legend Pele poses with the FIFA World Cup trophy on March 9, 2014 in Paris. Franck Fife | AFP | Getty Images. Pelé, the Brazilian soccer icon ...

... For me Pele remains the greatest of all time and I was proud to be on the the pitch with him. He used his platform after soccer to support charitable works and try to improve the lives of Brazil's poor. Despite the competition, the two struck up a friendship before Maradona died in 2020 after years of trading jabs. Muhammad Ali, he was there on the field for that final game, and at that time, the two most recognizable people on the planet were the two of them." He ended up playing for the Cosmos for two years, helping them win the North American Soccer League trophy, and he was widely credited with increasing popularity in the sport in the U.S. Pelé tore a muscle at the next World Cup tournament in 1962 and had to sit out after the second match, but the Brazilian national team prevailed and picked up back-to-back titles. When the time expired, his teammates lifted the emotional Pelé onto their shoulders and paraded him around the field. He played the first half with the Cosmos and the second half with his beloved Santos. He picked up a hat trick in the semifinal against France and scored two goals in the championship game against the 1958 tournament host, Sweden. He also had a respiratory infection, and his family said he would be staying in the hospital over the Christmas holiday. At 34, he signed a three-year $7 million deal to play for the U.S. Pelé joined the Santos Football Club in Brazil in 1956 at age 15 as an inside forward.

Brazil great Pelé dies aged 82 (BreakingNews.ie)

The three-time World Cup winner had been in hospital in São Paulo since late November. Pele's daughter Kely Nascimento wrote on Instagram: “We are thanks to you ...

He answered his critics in spectacular style as Brazil regained the trophy in Mexico. Pelé was exposed to some brutal treatment from defenders, in particular those of Portugal, as the South Americans failed to get out of their group. He headed Brazil in front in the final against Italy and his languid pass into the path of Carlos Alberto completed a sublime team move for the final goal in a 4-1 win. He quickly became a superstar in his home country of what was at the time a forward-looking nation, and became hugely marketable. We love you infinitely. Pele’s daughter Kely Nascimento wrote on Instagram: “We are thanks to you.

Pelé, who made soccer 'The Beautiful Game,' dies at 82 (NPR)

Pelé was one of the world's best soccer players who was the sport's global face for decades. The Brazilian legend was a wizard on the field who dazzled fans ...

It was like his strength was at the service of the beauty of the game." But even as he championed the idea of soccer as a unifier, Pele's life intertwined with racial and political divides at home. In 2011 he said, "I think it will be, always, the beautiful game." On the day Pelé retired, he reiterated his positive message to a packed stadium, asking fans to repeat the word "love" with him three times. Even so, Black Brazilian civil rights leaders would later criticize Pelé for ignoring their calls to denounce racism in the country, Basthi said: "He bet on an earlier narrative" that his success disproved there were racial barriers. He was also a playmaker and one of the early pioneers of the bicycle kick, a leap upward at an airborne ball to rocket it backward. At the gym at Santos, he added judo and karate to workouts. He is an honorary knight of the British Empire and served as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and Brazil's Minister of Sports, where he oversaw new legislation on labor rights for athletes. At the time, Brazil's economy was booming, and the team's exuberance became a symbol of the country itself. "I think we related to Pelé because of his creativity." "He walks on the field with one of those irresistible and fatal authorities. He rose from humble beginnings in rural Brazil to eternalize a powerful and creative style of play.

Higgins Pays Tribute to Pelé (Irish Echo)

President Michael D Higgins is leading Ireland's tribute to Brazilian soccer legend Pelé, who has died aged 82 after a year long battle against can...

In each of our meetings I was struck by that same sense of joy with which he graced the football pitch. Indeed his name will forever be synonymous with football itself, as perhaps the greatest player ever to play the game. "It is particularly poignant that Pelé should have died so soon after the World Cup, that greatest stage which he graced like no other.