Edson Arantes do Nascimento - 1940-2022

[Vinny Green Balls]

52 minutes ago, King HTT III said:

Every trick, skill, piece of flair and imagination my 9 year old shows when he plays football which he has quite a range of from the chop, the rebarno, stopovers, the so-called Cruyff or Maradona turn and spin, the elastico etc., Pele basically invented all them and gifted the world of football and future payers that otherwise we’d still be watching players just kick and run, kick and rush. There has been many a great player, but Pele was the fucking OG!

well, Pele and Garrincha

[joeyt]

 

[BGRM]

What a great player, arguably the best.

 

This news seemed inevitable but still so sad. Always remember pretending to be him in the playground at junior school (like every other kid).

 

It’s hard to think of any footballer that has inspired more people than him. RIP

[rgk_lfc]

 

Worth going through this twitter thread. 

[Interpolic]

Really sad news. When I was a kid there were regular debates in the media about who the best of all time was between him and Maradona, and the consensus was that Pele was better and for longer. 

 

By all accounts an absolute trailblazer and a great human being, who knows what the game would have been like without him. RIP. 

[Collage]

Sad news.

 

 

[Rafalove]

41 minutes ago, rgk_lfc said:

 

Worth going through this twitter thread. 

 

After reading that, I think he’s quite clearly a level above Messi. I can’t believe I just typed that.

[Billy Warthog]

I remember attending Wembley Stadium on August 8th 1987 during the Mercantile Credit Football League Centenary - Football League XI vs Rest of the World XI. I was principally there to cheer on Beardsley at the time, but there were a host of famous names making cameos - Maradona, Josimar, Lineker, Futre, Alberto, Platini... and I must have been the only kid unaware that Pele himself was there to welcome the teams and present the trophies. I didn't believe it when someone pointed him out to me... THE Pele?! Nah... Then I saw his intro in the programme. That's it. I had seen the GOAT in the flesh. 35 years later and it still feels like yesterday. 

 

RIP GOAT. 

[Kid Icarus]

46 minutes ago, Rafalove said:

 

After reading that, I think he’s quite clearly a level above Messi. I can’t believe I just typed that.

I was really hoping stuff like this wasn't going to get posted

[Rafalove]

Have you read it? Absolute insane goal scoring statistics. Clips of him embarrassing arguably the greatest defender of all time(Beckenbauer). All tipped off with something like an average of two tackles a game, he wasn’t just unbelievable at attacking, he was good at the defensive part too. which can only be said about Messi for a few brief years under Pep. His stats actually seem better than Messi’s too in terms of goal co tribution. All in an era with less favourable offside rules. Terrible pitches, terrible balls, terrible boots, getting kicked all over the place and inventing skills that would revolutionise the sport. I don’t say this lightly. It blows my mind how good Messi is/was, but Pele perhaps more-so.

[Kid Icarus]

I have yeah, as I've read multiple convincing threads on why Messi or Maradona was the greatest. That's the nature of those threads.

 

I was just dreading the inevitable coming debate over who's the greatest starting in here.

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Kid Icarus

[Lotus]

True legend. Always came across as humble and gentle too. Made it all sweeter somehow.

[Vinny Green Balls]

Beyond his alien skills and intelligence, he just embodied the joy of the game. He was like an avatar of what we all love about it.

[Vinny Green Balls]

Just had some dipshit tell me that how could I possibly progoundly comment on Pele if I never saw him live. He then went on to say that he didn't have nearly the impact on his sport as Jonah Lomu in rugby. This is because I said that Pele revolutionized the game, which pretty much every serious football supporter is aware of. Some fools just love taking the snide contrarion role. 

[triggs]

RIP to a football legend.

 

The game is so different that you can't compare across the eras but he's clearly one of the greatest of all time.

[Disco]

An absolute titan of the game and a genuine superstar that transcended the game and sport in general. RIP.

[Wild Geese]

Best player I've ever seen, sublime skills, strength and balance.

 

As a kid I was in awe of Pele and was shocked to see he was only 5ft 10in, he seemed a giant on the football pitch.

 

R.I.P. a true Great of the beautiful game.

[Jonas]

There's a photo of Pele post match after playing a friendly against us somewhere is there not?

The Strawberry had it up in a frame as I recall a mate keep saying he was going to nick it.

Forget the scenario and our player involved so can't find it, keep thinking the Kirin cup but can't have been

[Cronky]

He had natural skills that elevated him above every other player in his time. His status in the game is beyond question.

 

I can remember one of those comic strips in a paper many years ago, about the memories of a Chelsea player (can't remember which) who was up against him in a friendly game. He came off the pitch in absolute awe of him.

 

Whenever the Chelsea player tried to put in a challenge, he just bounced off him. He was very strong.

 

When going up for a header, Pele didn't need a run up. He just used the ground like it was a trampoline. (eg his goal in the 1970 WC final)

 

On one occasion, Pele had to cushion a high ball into his stride, but he didn't use his instep, he used his heel. I've never seen any player do that.

 

As far as the Chelsea player was concerned, there were 21 footballers on the pitch, and there was Pele.

[Dokko]

Nothing to add that everyone has already said apart from you never heard anyone saying anything negative about him. To have such ability and desire to win, yet be universally loved takes some doing.

 

RIP.

[huss9]

[duo]

RIP Pele ❤️

[Flip]

19 minutes ago, huss9 said:

Didn’t know about this. Chronicle published an article on this:

 

“Pele suddenly decided to turn it on. He scored three fantastic goals in about 15 minutes.”

 

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/pele-newcastle-united-brazil-legend-13124607?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

[King HTT III]

Stayed up into the wee hours of the morning watching/reading a shit tonne of stuff about the great man, honestly the things you see on a modern day pitch by some of the top players today and even some of the not so top players, he was doing it at 15 and learned his mastery using a sock filled with paper and rolled into a ball. He had his affairs and such, but he always seemed humble and a very good human off the pitch and obviously loved the game. The ‘US wouldn’t have ‘soccer’ without him. He got criticised for using his name for commercial purposes, but the man had to make a living and today he’d be a billionaire if he did the same today. loved how he played in black and white too for Santos 

[huss9]

3 hours ago, King HTT III said:

Stayed up into the wee hours of the morning watching/reading a shit tonne of stuff about the great man, honestly the things you see on a modern day pitch by some of the top players today and even some of the not so top players, he was doing it at 15 and learned his mastery using a sock filled with paper and rolled into a ball. He had his affairs and such, but he always seemed humble and a very good human off the pitch and obviously loved the game. The ‘US wouldn’t have ‘soccer’ without him. He got criticised for using his name for commercial purposes, but the man had to make a living and today he’d be a billionaire if he did the same today. loved how he played in black and white too for Santos 

nee ones perfect and like Ali, that made him more likeable.

him and Ali my all time sporting heroes.