O Rei Pelé's Legacy

Is it too much to say that Pelé was the first truly global superstar? At least for soccer, he was just that. His star power was so luminous that the two sides in Nigeria’s civil war once called a ceasefire to watch him play an exhibition game in Lagos.

Pelé leaped onto the global stage at the tender age of 17, weeping tears of joy after Brazil won the 1958 World Cup, the first to be broadcast live. He would go on to win two more World Cups and is still the only player to win three. Pele was the true original 10.

It’s hard for us to imagine today, but until Pelé Brazil was not a football powerhouse or even considered likely to reach the final stages of a tournament. His feats in the 1960s and 70s propelled the country to its current status as a perennial favorite and the only penta-campeão. 

Known simply as the King, Pelé exhibited a combination of skill, grace, power and poise that remains unmatched in the game. The accolades after his death from today’s superstars - Neymar, Mbappe, Ronaldo, Messi - all attest to it. 

He was an instantly recognizable figure from his late teens until his death at 82 last month, a predicament few on the planet will ever come close to understanding. While his personal life wasn’t perfect, Pelé never cracked under the pressure of his immense fame. 

Edson Arantes do Nascimento grew up poor in São Paulo state. Legend has it he played futebol on the streets with rolled up socks and grapefruits. He would play almost his entire club career at nearby Santos FC, something unheard of in today’s globalized game. This week Pelé was laid to rest in a mausoleum overlooking the Santos stadium. 

First as a player, and later as a celebrity, Pelé acted as global ambassador for his country as it also grew into a cultural power, and for latinoamericanos and especially Black Latin Americans. His relationship with Argentina’s Diego Maradona in their retirement years was a joy to behold. Sometimes bickering, sometimes affectionate the two playfully vied for the title of GOAT in the hearts and minds of soccer fans worldwide. 

There are countless quotes from all sorts of luminaries about the greatness of Pelé, but we will conclude with the words of one of South America’s great writers, Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano: 

“Those of us who were lucky enough to see him play received alms of an extraordinary beauty: moments so worthy of immortality that they make us believe immortality exists.”