By Carlos Ramírez Zago
The world of soccer and sports is in mourning. Brazilian legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, passed away at the age of 82 in Brazil, after a little more than a year of fighting colon cancer.
The Brazilian idol passed away—the one ahead of his time, the most complete, the one who was scary on the field, the one who assured you goals every game, the one who made magic with the ball, the one who made the number 10 on his back the most admired number on the field, the best soccer player in history—passed away.
Pelé, the striker who scored more than 1,000 goals in every possible way, the one who did not have to play in Europe to be recognized, because he made Santos of Brazil the best team in the world at that time.
We will always remember O Rei Pelé, the one who at the age of 9 saw his father cry for the first time in his life after Brazil lost the World Cup final at home to Uruguay in 1950. It was there that the 9-year-old boy approached his grief-stricken father and, with a hug, promised to bring the World Cup to him. Eight years later in Sweden 1958, Pelé would fulfill his promise at the age of 17 and bring the World Cup to his father, becoming the youngest player to win a World Cup.
Pelé is the only soccer player to win three World Cups (Sweden 1958, Chile 1962, and Mexico 1970)—the striker who captivated an entire country in Mexico 1970, where he was crowned world champion three times in the Azteca Stadium. Pelé was the player who caused madness in the streets; businesses closed with the excuse «Pelé is playing today;» stadiums were full to see the king play. The best player in the world provoked all of this.
Pelé not only had important achievements in his career as a soccer player. One of his greatest achievements was to have stopped a civil war for at least three days. Pelé’s genius on the field was able to stop the Nigerian Civil War in February 1969 when an agreement was reached for Santos to play two friendly matches against local teams in 72 hours.
«I understood that soccer had the power to bring peace to underprivileged communities; I always took advantage of all the press attention to ask children all over the world to have love, love, and love!» These are words from one of Pelé’s published autobiographies.
O Rei Pelé, the best soccer player in history—and an even better person. He will now be dominating the ball from up there. He passed away, but his legacy is marked forever.
Thank you for everything, O Rei. Rest in peace, Pelé.
