ESPN FC shares their memories and stories of Pelé as they reflect following his death. ✔ Subscribe to ESPN+: espnplus.com/soccer/youtube ✔ Subscribe to ESPN FC on RU-vid: bit.ly/SUBSCRIBEtoESPNFC
Erling Haaland said it best. Anything that you've ever seen a footballer do on the pitch, Pele did it first and he did it over 50 years ago. Even legendary defenders from European powers of the time, were in awe of him. He was perfection. He was a God and thee pioneer for the modern game. When the GOAT discussion comes up, it should be recognized that Pele was from another planet.
@@1607Adi_Manz Di Stefano was up there as well. Maradona even felt that Di Stefano was better than him and Di Stefano felt Pele was better than Prime Messi and Prime Portuguese Ronaldo both.
A flame of genuine goodwill has been extinguished today, what a statesman we’ve lost. His art was universal and timeless, his character a treasure for us all, may he Rest In Peace and may we carry his legacy of grace on and off the field
As a young man growing up in Africa, Eritrea to be exact..Pele personified greatness in the Football field and out. He inspired generations of footballers around the globe. There is a saying that .." the number 10 jersey before Pele was just another shirt and after became so dignified that those who wear it were treated like Gods"...Allow me to mention few, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Zidane, Messi, Platini, Bergkamp, Zico, Yohan Cruyff,Baggio, Yusebio, Puskas...and the list goes on. Thanks Pele for being the light of the world...Rest in Peace!!
PELE's football is out of this world but his character should be talked about too. He was as outstanding human being, elegant and dignified through out his life.
The fact that more than 50 years since his last World Cup triumph the footballing world stops and all news outlets cover his passing proves Pele was a different gravy. The fact he is still this relevant, this big of an icon, and is still in the GOAT debate after so many decades is remarkable. Pele at the World Cup: 14 games 12 goals and 8 assists 3x champion To this day still the youngest ever goal scorer in a World Cup final The man had 20 goal contributions in 14 games. Outrageous. He was likely the fastest, likely the most skilled, one of the strongest players during his era. His dribbling and on the ball skills were so ahead of his time. The way he played the game was ahead of his time. Brazil is the world's most successful footballing nation. And Pele gave rise to that and contributed to that fact more than anyone else. He was there when Brazil won their 1st WC, their 2nd and their 3rd. Since he retired they have "only" won 2 more World Cups. He is Brazil's greatest ever player. For all the magicians they have blessed football with from Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Neymar, Garrincha, Rivaldo, Kaka, Socrates, Zico, Cafu, Roberto Carlos and other...It's Pele who is their undisputed #1 icon. Rest in peace King Pele.
he played for the most overpowered world cup teams ever lmao. Open eyes and jump of the bandwagon use brain a bit. a grandad could win with those teams there is even proof of this 1962 pele missed every game except the first game and brazil still won world cup easy without him like i said a grandad could win with those teams. if messi had those overpowered teams around him he would´ve won his 5th straight world cup now. imagine argentina without messi literally 0 chance, they would even have hard to reach world cup like in 2018 qualifiers where last game saved them. you guys need to stop confusing individual quality with team quality
When Maradona passed away in 2020, the Argentina team has made his soul rest in peace by dedicating him with the 2021 Copa America and 2022 World Cup triumph. Let's hope the Brazil team will now dedicate Pelé by winning the 2024 Copa America and the 2026 World Cup!!!
Pele the King of Football. I fell in love with football 1978 he came to Jamaica after to play a friendly my uncle played against him for Jamaica. I became a Brazilian then and cried every cup we loss and rejoiced in all its glory. The history books i kept to my heart the stories of garbage truck workers talking about a 14 year old kid Pele juggling tomatoes. The King of Football the one and only goat 🐐 Pele the only sport icon who stop fighting and bloodshed in country Nigeria 🇳🇬 to watch the beautiful game. Rest in peace the greatest of them all.
Serious ting man! Jamaican football fans became Brazil supporters BECAUSE of Pélé. I too saw Santos play in Kingston. Too bad it was after Pélé’s time though--in the ‘80s.
Pele was a personal hero of mine...so sad we lost him. He was a great man on and off the pitch. You don't see enough people like him anymore in any sport.
@@MK-oz2lf the fact that ur bringing up Messi shows what a clown u are!! Nobody even said anything about Messi u muppet! 3 world cups where he barely featured in one and the two other ones Brazil had about 10 phenomenal footballers who some even considered being better than Pele at that time 🤡 are we just gonna pretend or deny that those Brazil teams were absolutely stacked from top to bottom. Like why do Pele fanboys always act like it was a one man show for christ sakes!!
An athlete transcends his sport when people who don't follow the sport, or sports in general, know of him. Three athletes who have transcended their sport are Mohammed Ali, Michael Jordan, and Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele'. Descanse em paz, senhor. Voce era o melhor.
Pele was and still will be the god of football he did everything back then and he is the reason why football has evolved due to his brilliance rest in peace legend you will be missed but won't be forgotten
He is the prototype player, every clip you see of him he played football in its ideal form. The man's legend is so great, tht u can feel its enormity even now 50 years since he stopped playing.
I was sitting next to Peles table with bunch of friends in Indichin restaurant on Bowery, New York and nobody recognized him,came for autograph, until I came over and shook his hand and had a nice football conversation with the God! He asked us to join tables and we had great time! I met a lot of famous people, but none as humble and classy as Pele!
It's an insult to ever say 'Pele was arguably the greatest player' or 'one of the greatest players' (as Lineker likes to say), because forget football, there is not a sportsman in history that has ever been so influential to a sport. He affected the game, not only in the standards he set and records he achieved which still to this day half a century later have not been achieved by anybody else who has played the game, but also in how the game should be played by him doing everything every other football player has ever done since in a recorded football match. It's astonishing how he managed to do and cover everything and every skill outside goal keeping, and you cannot find another football player that can make this claim even today however great people may say that football player is. Pele's standards for the game were such that he did not just take attacking play to the highest level an attacker can take it, but he participated in defensive play and tackling to levels even the best defenders today would be proud of which is something that even today is unheard of for any attacking player. That is what his standard for what a great football player is and a standard the future of football aspires to reach, but it is a standard others cannot even dream of achieving today and so standards are diminished or dropped to what is achievable for others so they too can be called great. Even with this compromise his standards are still too high for others when he says that to be great you must be great at everything to do with the ball, for example 1) your ability to use both feet as good as the other and to the greatest ability including, controlling the ball and shooting near or long range (just as is expected of a great pianist to use both hands as good as the other), 2) heading the ball to the greatest ability, be you controlling it or attacking the ball in various ways such as jumping, diving or standing still when heading the ball, 3) dribbling to the greatest ability past one player, through a crowd of players in close proximity or running at speed dribbling past dispersed players, 4) passing to the greatest ability, to create assists, accurate short and long passes, 5) tackling to the greatest ability, 6) acrobatic achievements such as bicycle kicks to solve difficult challenges, and so on. These are the standards that brought Pele 3 world cups as one of the great records he achieved that have proved almost unbreakable. But here again standards are dropped and diminished because these are standards expected in one player only he could achieve and do so to the greatest ability. Indeed Pele showed us the future of football and what is achievable for a player to become and though it has been great and taken football to great heights following him as he led by example, there is still the dream that one day we can see a football match where every football player on the pitch bares the standards set by Pele and we will no longer have to lower the bar or diminish or drop standards on what a great football player is or can achieve. That is the dream and that is Pele's dream. What a crazy football match that will one day be. Pele taught us the beautiful game and we are still learning to make as beautiful as he dreamed it could be, but he has also shown us a football dream we hope one day can be achieved. It's like he is colour television and we are all still playing in Black and White. He is football and he is the dream. The greatest football player ever and of all time without a question. No one is equal, better or greater, not even close. When other players retire, it's over, but Pele and his influence on the game and every player that plays lives on and shines after every whistle is blown to start a match. Thank you God for the gift that was Pele. Rest in peace. Peace and love
relax buddy boy, influence does not equate to greatness. pele is not the greatest, it's like comparing 60s cars to today. and no he would not score 60 goals a season in today's game for 10 seasons like messi and ronaldo did, not even close.
@@natg9441 Show me a great in sport who did not influence their field and future generations, and so inspiring them. There is no such thing. When you talk of number of goals he scored you are not including the number of goals that were disallowed which were perfectly fine that should be added to that list and which are so obviously goals, and how many more goals would have taken place if he was not hacked down with impunity and no interest in the ball just before he took his shot to score. Without this his records would have been extended even further. 126 goals in a season!! You can compare Pele with players today despite the period difference because everything he did then would have worked now against present defenders as the same skills are being used against them now and it is the same skills against defenders still working now while the conditions were much harder in that time with the ball, the shoes, the ground and the having to deal with being hacked down blatantly with no sending off or cards. Peace and love
@@natg9441 o futebol de antigamente era muito mais difícil, o campo era ruim, a roupa e a bola eram pesadas, a medicina e fisiologia passavam longe da atual, ele é de longe o maior jogador da história, de Messi tivesse nascido em 1940 nem seria jogador devido ao seu problema hormonal, CR7 não ia ter acesso aos estudos fisiológicos e suplementação de hoje,mas isso não os diminuiu em nada são outros tempos e ambos beberam da mesma fonte, Pelé.
If you want to learn more about Pelé here are 7 impressive facts that place him the goat debate: Pls do forward and post, thread and whatever. No credit to me necessary! 1. Goal scoring average of 0.92 overall and 0.83 with the national team, well above Messi, Cristiano or Mardonna. 2. Played the world cup four times in 58, 62, 66 and 70. Won world cup three times in 58, 62 and 70 (more than any other player). He also scored in all world cups he played in, and in two of the finals (58 and 70). 2. Roma, Benfica, Manchester United and Real Madrid all tried to sign Pelé. He refused, since during his career he was certain south american leagues were more competitive. 3. There were no substitutions, red card or yellows to protect strikers and star players in Pelé’s brutal era. Pelé was hunted off the pitch with injuries in two different world cups: 62 and 66 (only one he lost). The colored cards were introduced only in the 1970 world cup, inspired in part by Pelé’s ordeal and he won again! 4. Pelé made the choice to retire from the national team early, only at 30. He could have had even more chances to win the world cup, like Messi at 35. 5. He won two libertadores and club world championships and was a prolific winner in multiple tours against the major teams and champions of Europe. 6. As viral videos have been showing, he was not just a goal scorer, he perfected several dribbling skills and finishes that players now imitate or reimagine bcs he broke barriers. 7. Pelé was elected the athlete of his century by both Fifa and the olimpic committee in separate occasions. He was also awarded 7 ballon d’ors to tie Messi in a revision by France Football to include South American Players that werent eligble before. I ask, if football was so much “easier” or less evolved, why weren’t there more Pelé’s in his time, scoring as much as he did, winning as much as he did?
you can watch highlights on youtube right now, and no he really wasnt that good, overblown. it's like if neymar stayed in brazil, he would have 700 goals too. and all his world cup wins were non competitive as brazil was easily the best team in each
I remember watching the Mexico 1970 WC, Pele was past his best (like Mess) and was fantastic in the greatest team to ever assemble..Pele was phenomenal...
The only perfect player: right foot, left foot, header, assists, free kicks, defensive duties, assists etc, gave the world cup to Brasil at the age of 17!!
man went to MLS in the 70s and barely scored 1 in 2 when MLS was still an amateur league. Zlatan beat his goal to game ratio in modern day, shows how overrated little pele is
O Rei! Pelé was well known in India in the 70s. He was a global icon that transcends sport. No sportsman was so well known globally as him. Forget all your American sports stars.
Agree about the Cosmos place in the Pele story - if they did'nt give him the dream he might have never played again, he was broke through terrible business deals and they put up the money and allowed him come back as a player and a man.
Pele was the first sports superstar ever, today to be a great player, every player has to be first compared to Pele to be considered great, maradona, messi, R9, CR, Zidane, Ronaldnho, romario, Rivaldo, Cryuff, platini, Zico, neymar, mbappe, Etc, etc, he started it all, he was the one who first set the standards of skills in football, of how the game should be played.
pele is a glorified loser that stayed in his safespace santos fc in a terrible league, imagine if neymar had stayed in santos his whole career? he would be laughed at now, not glorified.
@@natg9441 You must be one of those generation Z kids who are not educated about the real history of the game , and how football was in brazil during the 6o's and seventies, so you have no clues of what you are talking about. First of all, what you dont know is that the standards of football in brazil in the 60's and 70's is much higher than today The 1970 brazilian team the won the WC is the best WC team ever, that team would have easily won the 1974, 78, 82, 86, 90 or 94 WC, they would have easily won the 2022 WC, pele, Jarzinho, revelino, Tostao, Carlos alberto. Italy still believes that the 1970 italian team that lost 0-3 to the 1970 brazilian team is regarded as one of their best all time greatest teams. The 1958 team and 1962 WC teams has some of brazil's best players ever in , Garrinchia, Nilton santos, Didi, Djamla santos, vava, and also in the 50's and 60's era the great Gerson and zizinho. In those days football was different than it is now, a lot of great players stayed home and played there , professional football was not the norm, players were more skillfull, and had common sense of the game, if neymar was born in that era, he too would have stayed home . How many players of neymar's class have come out of brazil since 2010??? There is a lot to learn on your part, stop being ignorant about the worlds greatest ever football nation and its history.
Yh right!! Nostalgic GOAT debate,,,Fans and their emotional instabilities. If another passes on tomorrow that legend would be deemed as the GOAT too. Mann ,,,,MESSI is THE GOAT 🐐🐐
Pele isn't the GOAT. He was, and STILL IS, beyond that concept. He had ascended to the status of a legend, or even the personification of the game. There will probably be somebody better than Messi in the future, but nobody can, or will, mean what Pele means to football. He truly is simply "The King"
@@edlawn5481 well for some people, the giant taller was Maradona, for others, that giant was Messi. Again, different players, different eras. Each great for the kind of players they represent for each of their time.
@@daniaaal Maradona stood on Pele's shoulders. Maradona would have probably been the first to admit that. That's the way it is, the game evolves, new generations build on the legacy of previous generations.
Thank you, Gustavo! Some try to diminish Pele by citing the fact that he didn't play in Europe, AS IF Brazil's league wasn't top notch and full of talent. Back then there was a lot less football brain-drain at the hands of European money.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 take that fraud fifa boy pessi out of the goats of this football history. there has never been a more corrupt and favored player like the coward pessi. wants next a rigged champions league trophy to match the 6 penalty rigged worldcup trophy that that carried coward got. we all know we're Ballon d' fraud is going to. hey fifa Ronaldo is still waiting for to go to modric house and get that 2018 fifa player of the year award it not funny anymore the jokes up.
Pele = the original Goat! The man won the world at 17. Meaning, he was great at a very young age! if he was allowed to play in Europe , he would have more than 7 ballon'd or why? Because, he was playing a different style of football. Anytime, Pele came to Europe with Santos, they would beat Barcelona, R. Madrid, Milan etc... European teams were nothing at that time. They were learning how to play the beautiful game! Today, everyone plays the same and some players have special treatments and privileges like Messi in Barcelona, he used to take all penalty and free kicks, the same for CR7 in Madrid. Today is just stupid!
Pele fue el Jesucristo del fútbol mundial fue una divinidad de otra galaxia pele merece un monumento mundial y ser presidente de Estados Unidos por la importancia de pele en el mundo para la paz mundial pele fue dios y dios eterno Uruguay se rinde a pele dios ❤❤❤julio montoli gloria eterna al gran dios pele
Pelé è di un altro universo viva viva viva viva viva viva viva o Rey Pelé nei secoli dei secoli arrivederci Pelé ci rivedremo sicuro Pelé l unico che ha sfiorato la perfezione ci vorranno tanti tanti tanti anni forse un secolo prima di rivedere un altro del livello di Pelé ciao dalla Sicilia Italia ciao a tutti
