Pele turns 75: Brazil celebrates the legend

DPA/Rio de Janeiro For many, Pele is the greatest footballer of all time, not for nothing they nicknamed him “O Rei,” the king. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele, turns 75 on Friday. He was born on October 23, 1940 in a town with the beautiful name Tres Coracoes (three hearts, in Portuguese), in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. However, it was in the state of Sao Paulo, playing for Santos, where he scored 1,091 goals and rose to global prominence highlighted by three World Cup titles.  Pele, always friendly and with a big smile, never quite left the public sphere after he retired from football, and he earned millions of dollars, above all through a lot of advertising. “Never for alcoholic drinks, politics, religion or tobacco products,” he stressed. Pele’s favourite enemy is Argentinian Diego Maradona, who regards himself as the legitimate god of football. At least he had the hand of god, and he was able to lift Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title with that infamous semi-final goal among others. Pele has accused the Argentinian of being a bad example for young people, with his drug-using past and generally unorthodox behaviour.  Maradona, in turn, has dismissed Pele as a museum piece rather than a living football icon. And yet Pele has a major place in the history of football. Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium holds the old leather ball that he netted on November 19, 1969 against Vasco da Gama, to score his 1,000th goal with Santos. Even church bells were rung in his honour at the time. Pele won three World Cup titles with Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and scored 1,281 goals in 1,365 matches, an amazing achievement by any standards. There is a Pele Museum in Santos, and on the occasion of the 75th birthday he will get for his 75th birthday new versions of the shirts he wore in 1962 and 1963, as Santos won back-to-back Intercontinental Cup titles. Pele played at Santos 1956-74, before moving to the New York Cosmos until his retirement in 1977. Unlike current Barcelona striker Neymar, who rose through the youth ranks at Santos but is now immersed in a spat with the Brazilian club, Pele remained loyal to his former home and continues to be immensely popular there. The other setting where he rose to greatness, the Brazilian national football team, is giving him little joy of late. The “verdeamarela” lost 7-1 to Germany in the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup on home soil, and appear to be having trouble to pick themselves up from such humiliation. “They only changed the coach,” Pele complained. Maybe things will change soon.