| BRAZIL | |
| 1956-1977 | |
| Santos (1956-1974) New York Cosmos (1975-1977) | |
There are legends, there are icons, and then there’s Pele. Without question, Pele is the greatest player of all time, someone whose talent transcended the game. If you don’t know anything else about football, you know that Pele was the best. Much like how Jimi Hendrix is considered to be greatest guitarist that ever lived and Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time, Pele is the greatest footballer ever to walk the planet. Some people might come up with contrarian arguments, just to be different. They might say that Maradona was better, just like how some people claim that Clapton was better than Hendrix or that Oscar Robertson was better than Jordan.
Don’t buy it.
Pele scored 1,281 goals, a number made all the more remarkable since these are just the ones recognized by FIFA. By contrast, Romario claimed to have scored 1,000 goals, however some of them came during his days with the youth team and others were in unsanctioned events. He scored 77 goals in 92 appearances for Brazil, and scored 589 domestic goals in 605 appearances. When he came out of retirement to play for the Cosmos, he managed to bag 31 goals in 56 games while doing something that David Beckham couldn’t do, namely, turning the Cosmos into an American phenomenon.
He revolutionized the forward position, blending his playmaking skills with his deadly shot to become the ultimate weapon. He was a great dribbler and passer, and was blessed with blistering pace and exception aerial skills. He made the number 10 shirt synonymous with his playmaking abilities, and as a result, he turned what had been a random shirt assignment into a coveted number usually reserved for a team’s best player. Whenever teams say that they’re looking for a “number 10,” they’re really referring to Pele.
He was a part of four World Cup squads, winning three of them. He won 25 trophies while playing with Santos, and added to his cabinet with an NASL Title while with the Cosmos. He has a whole slew of individual and lifetime achievement awards, which are too many to name. Suffice it to say that it’s a bigger story when Pele doesn’t win an award than when he does.
He is a national icon, a global ambassador for the game, and a philanthropist who has used his fame to help those less fortunate than he is. Based on his playing statistics alone, he would be the greatest player of all time. However, his off-the-field activities make him a true legend, and an icon that everyone can embrace.
