Last night, I talked about memorable dates. And yesterday just happened to be tied to two losses which are meaningful to me. Well tonight, we can add another morbid anniversary date to the ol’ memory bank; Edson Arantes do Nascimento died today.
Recency bias has led many people to argue that Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer of all time. I think he’s definitely the greatest male player playing today. But the best all time? In my book, that’s Pelé. Without a doubt. I’m not going to spend a lot of time sharing stats. I’m not even going to ask ChatGPT to make the case for me. I just want to talk about his influence on the game.
To put it simply, he fundamentally changed the way soccer is played. His balance of finesse and strength, to be able to fight through an entire defense who were hacking away at his ankles, just to sublimely and perfectly place a ball in an exacting spot in the back of the net, that is what players dream about to this day.
I was lucky enough to see him play once against my beloved Tampa Bay Rowdies. I don’t recall any specifics about the match itself. I only know that my under-10 team went as a group. And scouring Wikipedia let me know that the match must have been 29 May 1977. The Rowdies have always been my favorite team, and I remember getting excited about being able to see Rodney Marsh, Steve Wegerle, the tassel-socked Wes McLeod, and my idol Mike Connell face off with the likes of Giorgio Chinaglia, Franz Beckenbauer, and, of course, Pelé.
To paraphrase “Men in Blazers’” Roger Bennett, there was music before The Beatles, and then everything that followed. Pelé was the same. Soccer existed before Pelé became the youngest-ever scorer in a World Cup, but nothing since then has ever been the same. He not only coined the phrase, but he almost single handedly defined o jogo bonito, The Beautiful Game. I cannot overstate how steadfastly I believe that Pelé is the greatest who’s ever been. And probably ever will be. A true global ambassador for the game I love. I will miss his passion. I’ll miss his advocacy. I’ll even miss his Tweets.
Boot Camp
29 December 2022
Pelé ball.
Last night, I talked about memorable dates. And yesterday just happened to be tied to two losses which are meaningful to me. Well tonight, we can add another morbid anniversary date to the ol’ memory bank; Edson Arantes do Nascimento died today.
Recency bias has led many people to argue that Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer of all time. I think he’s definitely the greatest male player playing today. But the best all time? In my book, that’s Pelé. Without a doubt. I’m not going to spend a lot of time sharing stats. I’m not even going to ask ChatGPT to make the case for me. I just want to talk about his influence on the game.
To put it simply, he fundamentally changed the way soccer is played. His balance of finesse and strength, to be able to fight through an entire defense who were hacking away at his ankles, just to sublimely and perfectly place a ball in an exacting spot in the back of the net, that is what players dream about to this day.
I was lucky enough to see him play once against my beloved Tampa Bay Rowdies. I don’t recall any specifics about the match itself. I only know that my under-10 team went as a group. And scouring Wikipedia let me know that the match must have been 29 May 1977. The Rowdies have always been my favorite team, and I remember getting excited about being able to see Rodney Marsh, Steve Wegerle, the tassel-socked Wes McLeod, and my idol Mike Connell face off with the likes of Giorgio Chinaglia, Franz Beckenbauer, and, of course, Pelé.
To paraphrase “Men in Blazers’” Roger Bennett, there was music before The Beatles, and then everything that followed. Pelé was the same. Soccer existed before Pelé became the youngest-ever scorer in a World Cup, but nothing since then has ever been the same. He not only coined the phrase, but he almost single handedly defined o jogo bonito, The Beautiful Game. I cannot overstate how steadfastly I believe that Pelé is the greatest who’s ever been. And probably ever will be. A true global ambassador for the game I love. I will miss his passion. I’ll miss his advocacy. I’ll even miss his Tweets.
“Love, love, and love.”
See you tomorrow?