The football world is mourning the death of one of its all-time greats and celebrating his contribution to the beautiful game. Not many are likely to speak negatively about ‘O Rei’ (The king) in the wake of his passing. However, there has been a worrying trend online in recent years—an effort to undermine Pele's legacy with arguments that are uninformed opinions at best.
Many who have voiced or fallen victim to such narratives were not born during Pele's peak. But, not existing is not an excuse to be unaware of facts regarding pioneers and legends. Therefore, there is a need to set the record straight. To that effect, we look at one of the most common arguments used by Pele's detractors—that he played only in Brazil and then the US, and that he may have found the going tougher in Europe.
In today's football ecosystem, this would be a sound argument. While the Brazilian league is strong and full of technically sound players, it pales in comparison to top European leagues. But, things were different during Pele's time—the best Brazilian players played in Brazil, not Europe. Just imagine how strong the Brazilian league would be today if the likes of Neymar, Casemiro, Thiago Silva, Alisson, and the bevy of young stars like Vinicius Jr and others, played domestically.
It was, primarily, the pull of money that made Europe a dream destination for players from around the world. This trend existed even during Pele's time, but it has gathered momentum in the decades since. So much so that it is the norm now. Many players in the Brazil teams that won three out of the four World Cups from 1958 to 1970 would have walked into the starting line-ups of big clubs in Europe. They didn't because that was not the norm then.
Despite this, there were many attempts to take Pele to Europe. He has said that Italian giants Juventus tried to sign him for $1 million in 1961. Wealthy European clubs like Real Madrid and Manchester United also wooed Pele around the same time. Earlier, Inter Milan had managed to get him to sign a contract. But, news of the deal caused a revolt by Santos fans, who, as per unconfirmed reports, set the club headquarters on fire. Fearing for his life, the Santos chairman called Inter president Angelo Moratti and begged him to tear up the contract. “It was no longer a football affair, but a case of conscience and so dad did,” Angelo's son Massimo told La Gazzetta dello Sport in 2018.
Brazil's under-fire president Jãnio Quadros knew that his people would not be happy if Pele left for Europe. So, in a desperate, an eventually unsuccessful, attempt to save his presidency, he declared Pele a national treasure in 1961 to stop him from moving out of the country. Clearly, it was not as if there was no interest in Pele from Europe. And his performances against the best European clubs offer concrete proof that he was capable of dominating well-drilled and tactically aware European defences.
The first of these masterclasses came in 1962. Pele had inspired Santos to a Copa Libertadores (South American championship) win—the first for a Brazilian club. This gave the team an opportunity to test itself against the champions of Europe—Benfica of Portugal, which had Eusebio in its ranks—in the Intercontinental Cup. Pele scored five goals as Santos beat Benfica 8-4 on aggregate in the two-legged match. Benfica goalkeeper Costa Pereira said that he had hoped to stop a great man, but had instead been “undone by someone who was not born on the same planet”.
The next year, Pele was once again brilliant as Santos retained the Copa Libertadores. This set up an Intercontinental Cup clash with AC Milan. The Brazilians beat Milan 7-6 on aggregate over three matches (two legs which finished level, plus a play-off match) with Pele scoring twice.
Moreover, Pele would also have been a multiple Ballon d'Or winner if the award's scope was larger at its inception. The award given by the magazine France Football is now seen by many as the most prestigious honour in world football. But, when it started in 1956, it was an award for European players. It became global only in 2007 and Lionel Messi is the record winner with seven.
In 2016, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the award, France Football published an internationalised re-evaluation of the awards. Pele was named as the alternative to the original winner seven times—1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964 and 1970. In 1999, he was also chosen as France Football's player of the century by a panel of 30 Ballon d'Or winners. The second to fifth places in the voting went to Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Michel Platini.
In the new millennium, the emergence of two all-time greats like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo may have thrown open the debate over who the greatest of all-time is. But, it can still be argued that no one did more than Pele to revolutionise football, at least in the 77 years post World War II.
