Pelé. The greatest player of all time. And that's not up for debate. His CVs ran to two words: 'Footballer. Humanitarian'. The beautiful game - a phrase he may or may not have coined - described the sport he'd loved from a young boy to the day he died. And he was a beautiful man. He fought tirelessly for the poor in his native Brazil and when he stood on the world stage as part of the UN, always with a smile on his face, people listened.
In a playing career that spanned three decades (he started professionally with Santos in 1956 and bowed out in 1977 whilst with the New York Cosmos) he scored over 1200 goals, including 92 for his country between 1957 & 1971.
Famously, on 19 November 1969 the player born Edson Arantes do Nascimento found the back of the net for the 1,000th time during a league game at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
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However, here's a sure fire goal (seemingly) you won't see in Pelé's stats; thanks to a truly miraculous save from England's Gordon Banks in the Mexico 70 World Cup. This was my first World Cup and, like millions of others around the world, glued to their TV sets, I couldn't believe what I'd just seen. Cue David Coleman...
Pelé (1940-2022)
Charity Chic could be starting a new trend along the lines of 'one song to the tune of another'. He's left a comment to this blog post on my next blog post. I like it; it could catch on.
ReplyDeleteI'd still like to know what everyone's reading at the moment. Drop a reply here or there, I really don't mind.
DeleteRe. a new trend - It could be a bit like that classic Two Ronnies 'Mastermind' sketch:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0C59pI_ypQ
And perhaps I should have put this comment on your next post!
The 1970 World Cup was my first one too and of course we all came to love Pele.
ReplyDeleteGreat clip of that save by Gordon Banks. Makes me feel all nostalgic for my childhood living room! Not many of that England team left now.
Fifty four years ago and I still remember much of it so clearly. You're right, Geoff Hurst is the last man standing from '66 together with Alan Mullery and Tommy Wright from the 1970 squad.
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