Pelé developed his masterly ball sense in barefoot poverty

My father took me to the neighbors, who already had a television in 1958, and pointed to the black and white images of the world championship. I saw a black, technically perfect, arrogant football player subtly sending one subtle pass after another. “Didi!” my father shouted. I saw a bow-legged right winger passing defenders on all sides. “Garrincha! This is football,” my father shouted.

Then I saw him: a slender, frisky, controlled attacker. “That’s him now. Please pay attention,” my father shouted. I saw the boy making frivolous hip movements, touching the ball as if he were caressing it, making passes – so pure. He fell, was attacked, but got back up and continued what he started. And I saw him score from a cross from left winger Zagallo with a header that I will never forget. “He took to the skies,” wrote August Willemsen The Divine Canary. „And Pelé rose to it with majestic elevation and power”, wrote Brian Glanville The Story of the World Cup. Brazil won the final against home country Sweden 5-2.

My father had foresight. He had seen that Brazilians (Didi and Garrincha) were wonder footballers and that Pelé would become the most beautiful footballer of all time. What Pelé has shown after the world title he won with Brazil at the age of seventeen is alone at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico surpassed – by himself as leader of the team that played the greatest football of all time and helped Brazil to its third world title. Especially thanks to the divine Pelé, the virtuoso Rivellino, the masterful Gerson, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto and all those players with their beautiful (nick)names.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, one of the best football players of all time, alongside Diego Maradona, Johan Cruijff and Lionel Messi, died on Thursday. He was 82 years old.

Said several times Kingalso The King of Football mentioned that he didn’t like the name Pele. He preferred to be addressed as Edson, a corruption of Edison, but his father misspelled the name (he was named after Thomas Edison) at the registry office. Even the date of birth of October 23, 1940 is subject to great doubt, initially October 21 was stated. He was born in the town of Três Corações (Minas Gerais). His parents moved to the big city, Baurú, and soon named their son Dico. He kept that pet name for a long time. Until friends started calling him Bully Bilé, after the ‘retarded’ goalkeeper who played football with his father Dondiño. The boy from the poor family of Céleste and João Ramos do Nascimento pronounced the nickname himself as Pelé. And so it became Dico and later Pelé. He just left it like that. The nickname Pelé became his trademark.

Pelé learned to play football barefoot from his father, who soon had to end his career as a (semi) professional due to an injury. The family had no money for football boots. Poverty was great in Baurú’s neighborhood. Pelé has never failed to refer to this when he was praised again. For example, on November 19, 1969, when he scored from a penalty kick in the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, packed with at least 100,000 spectators, in the match between Vasco da Gama and his club Santos FC. scored his thousandth goal. While all the spectators, even the supporters of opponent Vasco, went into ecstasy, Pelé said on Brazilian television: “Please don’t forget the poor children.”

in front of the TV camera after his thousandth goalSkin Please don’t forget the poor children

He could become very emotional, often crying on the shoulders of teammates and supporters after winning finals and titles. Then he remembered the world he came from. That he had been lucky. Not only because he had an exceptional talent, but because God, his parents and his friends had helped him. Many believe they should blame him for acting too commercially in his last decades, such as contracts with credit card company Mastercard, the world football association FIFA and with the erection drug Viagra. He has rarely defended himself, what else could he do: the temptations associated with the name Pele have helped him and others. So he thought.

Santos

Pelé (Dico) was discovered by Waldemar de Brito, a multiple Brazilian international, who was also the coach of his first club Baurú Atlético Clube. This introduced him to Santos FC, a prominent club on the Brazilian coast, and ensured that Pelé signed a contract there as a fifteen-year-old. Santos (in spotless white uniform) had the best team in the world in the 1950s, won world cups thanks to Pelé alone and was invited to all continents (including the Netherlands) to showcase Brazilian arts.

And Pelé scored everywhere. He was worshiped everywhere, such as in African countries where civil wars were stopped to see him. Everywhere he talked about his origins, as a black boy, as a descendant of slaves, as a boy who grew up in poverty.

Or Pelé talked about his training as a footballer. The boy who developed the feeling for the ball barefoot on bare earth, how he… bicycle (the acrobatic bicycle kick) learned from his father and had scored so many times, more than any other footballer. The images of it give shivers all over your body. The body control, the overview, the playfulness and the way in which he could serve his fellow players with his third eye. Pelé could do anything with a ball, he was even a reserve goalkeeper at Santos, the brilliant team of that time with Pepe, Zito and Coutinho.

Do what your heart tells you

Back to the 1958 World Cup, in which he first achieved world fame. Pelé was only seventeen, but coach Feola needed him. And Brazil, which was certainly in crisis when it came to football. There is nothing like football in that land of lost souls. After the national disaster of 1950, caused by the World Cup defeat in their own country in the final against Uruguay, the Brazilian team tried to get revenge at the 1954 World Cup with combat football in its crudest form. So before the 1958 World Cup, national coach Feola and the Brazilian football leaders were faced with the choice of continuing hard football or going back to the ancient Brazilian football game.

Or (European) solid and hard football again, or swing (related to the related samba), the joy and expression of Brazilians, the ancient inhabitants who radiated ginga, practiced dance methods inspired by combat forms such as capoeira. Playing football playfully and dancing, as few fouls as possible, doing what your heart tells you. Pelé had become the symbol of that. He often played with Santos; not doing what the coach on the side tells you for tactical reasons, but playing football and seeing what happens. Do what your heart and your talent tells you.

Feola decided to play ‘Brazilian’ football again at the 1958 World Cup, with Didi, Garrincha, Djalma Santos, Vava and the others. But Pelé was still young (17) and above all: he had injured his knee. Ultimately, Feola was right. Pelé was able to play occasionally (six goals in four games) and decided with two goals (just like Vava) the final against Sweden. Afterwards, Pelé fainted on the field. His senses had become overloaded, he had not been able to comprehend it and was lost in the world until he came to and burst into tears.

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In his hometown of Três Corações, not everyone is a fan of Pelé

Back in full glory

At the 1962 World Cup, he had to hand over the leading and inspiring role to Garrincha due to a groin injury. But Brazil became world champions again. At the 1966 World Cup, his playing was made impossible, mainly by the tough, ruthless European teams. At the 1970 World Cup he was back in full glory. Rarely will football fans have enjoyed more what these Brazilians conjured up, with a masterful Pelé in the leading role.

At the age of 35, after actually quitting football, he left for the United States in 1975 and started playing for New York Cosmos, if only to popularize football there. He loved football and wanted to promote that, others wanted him to promote his football. As an ambassador of Unicef ​​and UNESCO. As ambassador of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. As (extraordinary) minister of sport. In every role that led to popularity thanks to football.

In 2000, he was honored by FIFA, together with Maradona, as the best footballer of the twentieth century. The International Olympic Committee selected him as Athlete of the Century in 1999, ahead of Muhammad Ali, Carl Lewis, Michael Jordan and Jesse Owens. Pelé was also number one for the international sports press. Pelé became world champion three times, won World Cups with Santos and scored (according to data from Santos FC and FIFA) 1,283 goals in 1,366 matches – for the Brazilian national team he only scored 95 goals in 114 international matches.

His private life was erratic. Pelé was married three times, divorced just as many times and fathered at least five children. Pelé always liked to refer back to who he once was, when he was still called Dico. The boy who happily played barefoot all day long next to his parental home, while his (now 100-year-old) mother watched with love and his father told him how to find joy in football.

Brazil is quick to mourn when a national hero dies, but with Pelé it loses its most important anchor. Only the many images of his many wonderful arts, his many goals and his many bicycles remains. A sanctified man lives on in many hearts.

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