Pele has passed away

Pele, a sporting immortal that changed the game. Rest in peace King.
 
Sad day for the footballing world. One of its true greats / biggest icons. Even if I can't claim to have seen much of him he's obviously hugely influential for the sport
 
calodo2003 said:
As someone stated earlier, Americans knew who Pele was in the 70s due to the popularity (albeit fleeting) of the NASL. Those games would regularly have higher attendances than NFL games located in the same city. As I stated, the younger someone is, the knowledge of Pele wanes, but boomers &, to a much lesser extent Gen X, are aware of Pele. Say 40 years & older.
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You're talking about 1 team, the Cosmos. The average attendance of the NASL during the 3 years Pele was there is
1975: 7,930
1976: 10,295
1977: 13,558
By 1984 the league folded. Not sure you can say that was a popular league.
 
Pele achieved what no other player ever did: he won 3 World Cups for his country.
That's a massive achievement considering how hard it is to win a world cup.
The guy played in 4 World Cups and lifted the trophy 3 times. truly the GOAT.
RIP Legend.
 
Kelly15 said:
You're talking about 1 team, the Cosmos. The average attendance of the NASL during the 3 years Pele was there is
1975: 7,930
1976: 10,295
1977: 13,558
By 1984 the league folded. Not sure you can say that was a popular league.
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Hence the word ‘fleeting.’ I should have been more clear about the specific team. Pele & the Cosmos were marketed heavily & he was definitely known by the American public of a certain age. It was the younger segment of my generation where the name Pele becomes less popular.
 
If anyone hasn't ever got round to watching the YouTube footage that is available of his playing days; do it. You won't regret it. Astonishing even by modern standards.
 
RedDevilQuebecois said:
Trailblazer, Icon, Legend, King, GOAT.

Pelé was my father's favorite player with very good reasons. During my father's childhood through his late teens, he saw those highlights from Pelé in those World Cups and then in live matches on then-new color TV in 1970. As for myself, I watched all of those video clips and documentaries. Pelé would definitely be a very top player in any decade as he did so many things long before others emulated them; that is why he is the ultimate trailblazer of the beautiful game to me.

Rest in Power, Pelé.
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Just had a talk with my dad this morning, 1970 world cup was the first he ever saw and said it was a privilage watching him play.
 
Rip legend. In many ways Pele suffered from not having the footage of his best time easily available as compared to Maradona and Messi.
 
A pioneer of the sport. Pele was so far ahead of his time, doing things we see now 60 years earlier in a much trickier environment.

The Brazilian league at that time was very strong. Most of their World Cup winning players of that era played there. Pele and Santos played European champions Benfica in ‘62, led by Eusebio and pretty much destroyed them. They then beat Milan in the same final the year after albeit in a much closer contest.

We will forever argue about who is the best player ever, but there can be no doubt that Pele did it first and changed the way football was played for ever. He changed and transcended the game in a way that even Maradona and Messi didn’t manage.
 
He retired well before I was born so not lucky enough to have seen him play. But quickly becoming football obsessed growing up, reading about the history and watching old clips it soon became clear this wasn't just a legend of the game but a great across all sport. An icon and inspiration to many millions worldwide, on and off the pitch.

RIP
 
RopersReturn said:
We’ve probably lost the biggest names of twentieth century football in a little over 2 years. I can’t think of anyone more famous than the brilliant individuals you’ve named there. It’s heartbreaking to read the list.
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Agreed.

And in just under 9 years since early 2014, also including Gordon Banks, at least 9 footballing legends / icons (I may well have missed others) have passed away. Incredibly sad.
 
One of the biggest icons in sporting history. Up there with Ali and Jordan. RIP.
 
The football ramble did a good podcast on him just now. Brought up good points on how he played through the transition of football, the game evolved a lot through his playing time, the late 50s to the 70s and he was the best there was at every stage.
 
Andrade said:
One of the biggest icons in sporting history. Up there with Ali and Jordan. RIP.
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Agreed. I've always thought of Pele, Ali and Jordan as the 'big 3' in terms of global sporting appeal / influence / importance (of course with amazing results and performances to match).
 
A pioneer in football, with by far the best international career ever, and one of most decorated/best goalscorer in the game too.

Pele is simply the GOAT of 20th Century. Truly player of the century.
 
RedRonaldo said:
A pioneer in football, with by far the best international career ever, and one of most decorated/best goalscorer in the game too.



Pele is simply the GOAT of 20th Century. Truly player of the century.
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GOAT means 'greatest of all time' (which he was). You can't be the GOAT of the 20th century.
 
Andrade said:
GOAT means 'greatest of all time' (which he was). You can't be the GOAT of the 20th century.
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Ok. But to be more specific, in back 20th Century, among the older generation who have seen him play, they would all consider him as GOAT.
 
Rightfully rated as High as he is. However, usually for the wrong reason. Winning 3 World Cups. I wish football fans could understand that trophies are won by teams not individual players. Pelé himself barely played in the 1962 World cup and Brazil still won it. Brazil was a wonderful team even without him, that's why they dominated so much.
Haaland will probably never win or even play a world cup but that doesn’t mean he is a worse player than let's say Lautaro Martínez. Harry Kane himself I believe has won 0 trophies so far in his career.
Pelé was great for the skills he showed on the field. Truly amazing to watch even in low quality videos.
 
Andrade said:
GOAT means 'greatest of all time' (which he was). You can't be the GOAT of the 20th century.
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That's why I use GOTE [Greatest of the Era]. I put Pele Messi, Maradona, Cruijff, Di Stefano, and Beckenbauer in the same tier, but I have always said if I was forced to pick just one, Pele would stand above them all. It's a true shame that some of the tapes he had when he was in his prime were desrtoyed.

Di Stefano, Cruijff, Beckenbauer have all said Pele was the best. Even César Menotti said Pele was better than Maradona. People using lack of European football to disparage Pele don't know that Brazilian football was perhaps at a higher level back then. All the Brazilian football players that dominated international tournaments played locally.
 
totaalvoetbal said:
That's why I use GOTE [Greatest of the Era]. I put Pele Messi, Maradona, Cruijff, Di Stefano, and Beckenbauer in the same tier, but I have always said if I was forced to pick just one, Pele would stand above them all. It's a true shame that some of the tapes he had when he was in his prime were desrtoyed.



Di Stefano, Cruijff, Beckenbauer have all said Pele was the best. Even César Menotti said Pele was better than Maradona. People using lack of European football to disparage Pele don't know that Brazilian football was perhaps at a higher level back then. All the Brazilian football players that dominated international tournaments played locally.
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Menotti was not the only one, a lot of Argentine legends said that Pele was better than Maradona. I remember seeing an interview with Hugo Gatti where he said Pele was better.
 
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