*How could Messi be the greatest of all time? His statistics pales when compared to PELE?*
*Goals – PELE 1284 to Messi 700+*
*Hatricks – PELE 92 to Messi 53*
*Word Cup won – PELE 3 (by age 30 ) Messi 1 (by age 35)*
*PELE the only player declared a NATIONAL TREASURE by his COUNTRY.*
*PELE the only SOCCER PLAYER for whom a referee was EXPELLED in a game.*
*PELE the only player in History that ever dribbled 9 players and scored a goal (Maracana Stadium in 1961)*
*PELE the ONLY PLAYER in History for whom Queen of England broke protocol just to shake his hands.*
*PELE the only player in History to be married by the POPE a second time to the same woman as a recognition of his greatness.*
*PELE the ONLY PLAYER in HISTORY for whom a WAR was stopped in order to watch him play – The Nigerian Civil War- only for the war to resume thereafter.*
Pele: Brazil football legend dies aged 82
Brazilian football legend Pele, arguably the greatest player ever, has died at the age of 82.
He is credited with scoring a world record 1,281 goals in 1,363 appearances during a 21-year career, including 77 goals in 92 matches for his country.
The only player to win the World Cup three times, lifting the trophy in 1958, 1962 and 1970, Pele was named Fifa’s Player of the Century in 2000.
President Jair Bolsonaro has declared three days of national mourning.
Pele had been suffering with kidney and prostate problems in recent years. He had surgery to remove a tumour from his colon in September 2021 at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo, after the tumour was detected in routine tests. He was readmitted to hospital in late November 2022.
His daughter Kely Nascimento has kept fans updated on her father’s condition with regular social media updates from hospital.
On Thursday she posted a picture of what appeared to be Pele’s family’s hands on his body in hospital and wrote: “Everything we are is thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace.”
NB: Iyare, a Communications and Development Consultant is an International Relations Analyst.
