The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsFootball has seen many great players over the years, many of which were, and continue, to be household names around the globe. The game has changed drastically, but the talent of the players has not, and many of the players who are commonly regarded as some of the best of all time plied their trade well-before the game turned into the mega-business it now is. Every sport has their all-time legends and contemporary stars, and none more so than football, and comparing players of different generations is an impossible task.
Here at The Sports Lowdown, we attempt to do just that. In our top 10 countdown, our specialist team of football writers will formulate a list of the greatest players of all time in reverse order, commencing at 8am on Monday and finishing at 6pm that same day.
Pele? Maradona? Messi? Zidane? Keep a watchful eye on proceedings at The Sports Lowdown to find out who we have picked as our top 10 players of all time, and as usual we would love to hear your views, so any comments would be greatly appreciated!
Number 3 – Pelé
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, sacrifice and most of all, a love of what you are learning to do.”
No one best embodies the above quote than its author: Edson Arantes do Nascimento or as the whole footballing world knows him: Pelé. And it is he who comes in at number 3 on our list. I’m going to be taking you through exactly why Pelé is one of the greatest players, our beautiful game has ever seen.
Such a legend of the game is Pelé that if you ask any football fan to name the best player of all time, chances are they will reply his name, even those fans too young to have seen him play. A holder of 3 world cups and scorer of over six hundred goals means its easy to see why. There is no other way to put it, Pelé was a genius, he personified brazilian football with his flair and trickery, but also possessed excellent tactical awareness and vision as well as superb finishing. He possessed lightning pace and cat-like agility and on top of this he was one of the most consistent players in the history of football with his standard of football never slipping throughout his 21 year career.
So where do we start? Strangely enough, I’m going to start at the end. Throughout his entire career, Pelé only played for two teams; he spent 18 years at his beloved Santos before moving on to finish his career at the New York Cosmos. On the 1st October 1977, in one of the most televised friendlies in football history, Pelé made his final mark on the football world as Santos travelled to the Giants Stadium in NY to see him off. Pelé played a half for both of the teams and scored for Santos in their 2-1 defeat to the Cosmos. But the score was not important, the global footballing community got to witness the final acts of not just one of the best players of all time, but of a true lover of the game, knowing that the sport would never be the same without him. He was hailed off the pitch at full-time as a legend, and that is what he remains to this day.
But back to the beginning now; Edson do Nascimento was born in October 1940 to a poor family in south-eastern Brazil. His love of the game quickly grew from a young age but since he couldn’t afford a ball, he was stuck playing with rolled up socks. By the age of 13 his talent had been spotted by Bauru Athletic youth team and he helped lead them to 3 consecutive Sao Paulo state championships before being snapped up by his boyhood club Santos.
He made his Santos debut at the age of 15, scoring in an impressive 7-1 win. He went on to become a First team starter in the 1957 season where he was league top scorer… at the age of 16. Pele scored 58 goals in the 1958 season on route to his first major title and although european giants came hunting, he was declared an official national treasure to stop him from being sold. He went on to play 19 seasons for the santos side winning a vast array of individual and team honors in his time there before finally being sold to the New York Cosmos. He spent the final 3 years of his career at Cosmos before that sad day in October 77′.
Pelé scored 650 goals in his club career and all this in just 694 games. His goal tally goes up to 1281 if you count friendly games, a record which I think could stand for a very, very long time. He became Santos’ record goal scorer, a record still standing to this day. Yet despite this exceptional club career, it does not even come close to his international career.
At the age of 16, Pelé made his debut for the Canarinhos scoring in a 2-1 defeat to Argentina and becoming the youngest player ever to score in international football. In 1958 pele became the youngest player ever to play and then score at a world cup, he then scored a hat trick in the semi-final against France and a brace to see off Sweden in the final. One of the goals in that final was selected as the best goal in world cup history. The 1958 world cup was famous because a 17 year old wonder-kid lead Brazil to the crown. This was the tournament where Pelé began wearing the number 10 shirt and this was the tournament where the world found out about Pelé… and fell in love with him. Pelé went on to win 2 more world cups, becoming the only player in football history to win the trophy on 3 occasions. He played 92 games for Brazil, and with 77 goals he is their all time top scorer to this day.
So the statistics certainly back Pelé to be high on this list… but why was he so good?
Why Was Pelé So Good?
Pelé was exceptionally quick, strong, skilful and smart; imagine Walcott’s pace, Pogba’s strength, Ronaldo’s tricks, Messi’s dribbling, Fabregas’ brain and Aguero’s finishing all rolled into one. He was a hard worker and was always 100% dedicated to the game. He was known not just for scoring lots of goals, but for scoring beautiful goals. He is not just an exceptional athlete, but an incredible role model for all those involved in the sport.
Pelé has been retired for over 30 years but is still one of the most influential people in football. A campaigner for human rights and donor to many charities, he is using his love of the game and influence within its community to help those who, like him at a young age, have nothing but want to get involved in the beautiful game. A true role model!
Does He Deserve His Place On The List?
Absolutely. There have been an incredible array of footballers over the history of the game but very few compare to Pelé. He is the most well rounded and consistent player in the history of the game as well as the most prolific striker the world has ever seen. Some may point to the fact that he spent almost his whole career at Santos in the Brazilian League, and his statistics are therefore not a true reflection of his ability, compared to other legends of the game, and it is perhaps this that stops him from being even higher on this list. Regardless, Pele is a national icon and as the Brazilian fans love to sing to the Argentinian fans “Pele has more World Cups than you”, and it is important to remember that “The Black Pearl” did it on an international stage as well, hence the reason he is nicknamed “The King of Football!”
His love for the game is rivaled by very few people on this earth and that is ultimately why he is on this list. A player like Pelé may never come around again in our time… and the records he has set could stand for an eternity. From a young age he captured the attention of millions and those attentions are still in awe even now, at the ripe old age of 74. Anyone who understands the game will tell you that Pelé is one of the greatest players of all time, so I have no doubts at all that he deserves his place at number 3.
But who will be at number 2? Stay tuned to find out…
Do you agree that Pelé is the third best player of all time? If you have any comments leave them below or tweet me @Omar_Mauri_ or @TheSportLowdown
