Edson Arantes Do Nascimento died at the age of 82, yet Pele will live forever…
The flavor of the World Cup still lingers. The memories of Qatar 2022 will always be remembered. Just like many major tournaments in the recent past. However, the stories of black and white years also shouldn’t be forgotten, which maybe even more impressive stories than new ones…
For example, Pele’s leadership in Brazil, who played the World Cup for the first time at the age of 17, is always very impressive no matter where you stand in history. Because even though there were other stars like Vava, Didi and Garrincha in that team, it was the young superstar who set the course. Pele, who did strange things with the Santos jersey in his past, has suddenly evolved into the most visible football figure in the world with this tournament. Pele, who scored a goal against Wales in the quarter-finals, scored a hat-trick against France in the semi-finals and scored two goals against Sweden in the final; four years later, in 1962 and 1970, he would be the name that led Brazil to the championship. Although his resume includes the sentence “the only player to win three World Cups”; Pele would go beyond this impressive title with what he did and will do.
Pele passed away recently. The legend, who closed his eyes at the age of 82, had been battling colon cancer for a while. Even in his sickbed, he gave messages of love to the world, as he did throughout his life, and continued to live football until his last breath. He saw the World Cup lift of one of his rivals, Lionel Messi, in the comparison of “the best football player ever”, watched another notch in the history of football, where he can be considered one of its creators. As explained, although it had been expected for a while, the death of the King shook the world deeply. Because Pele was always there. While the sport was not as global as it is now, he used football’s comparatively more powerful platform flawlessly and became one of the first global superstars. Not many people knew his name. For most people, football meant Pele.
Nowadays, when comparing periods, there is a trend to simplify Pele’s football years by saying “it was easy” or “competition was low”. In recent weeks, circulating on social media; The montage, which shows Pele’s signature moves made by giants such as Johan Cruyff, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi, puts the pieces in place a little more. This is just one of the ways to see what an incredible football player he is. In any case, it doesn’t take expertise to predict that such exceptional talents will make a difference in any period. There is no need to doubt that Pele would still be one of the best if he played with today’s training science and physical possibilities.
Years will pass, the evolution of athletes will continue, records will be broken… But the feelings of Pele, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan or Roger Federer will not change. We mortals, on the other hand, will continue to talk, discuss and be inspired by those who have the power to change both their world and the world by using their talents. In a way, this means immortality. Let’s leave the last word to Pele:
“Edson is a normal person, and when the day comes, people will forget about him. But Pele does not die. He will never die; he will live forever.”
