The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit

Three, like the number of World Cups to his credit; three, like the name of the artist's birthplace (“Tres Coracoes”, that is to say “the Three Hearts”); three, like the number of marriages contracted by the man with a stormy private life, on which we will not dwell here. What is certain is that the individual liked to evolve in bundles of Trinity. His name was *PELE*, and he was called the King.

Make no mistake about it: there is PELÉ, and there are the others. At a time when lawns were just a potato field, when defenders committed attacks without taking a card, when training equipment and medical logistics had nothing to do with what we have today he, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, defied the rules of logical and rational. At a time when the cameras did not follow you everywhere to immortalize the least of your movements, your goals, your brilliant actions, he splashed his legend three generations!

Yes, before him football was just a sport; with him it became an art, a song, a symphony.

If Maradona is called the King by the Argentinians, if Eusebio is called the King by the Portuguese, Pelé is called the King by... the whole world! And no one wants to debate it, because it doesn't debate. The absolute master is him! And while the Ballons d'Or did not yet exist for non-European nationals, the man with 77 goals in 92 games under the colors of the Seleçao (1283 goals in total, including nearly 800 approved) returned to world of football THE perfect copy, the most beautiful exam sheet that we have ever seen in football history. From his debut in 1956 at the age of 16 to his retirement in 71, he martyred the most intrepid opponents, from Raymond Kopa's France to the famous Eusebio's Portugal, and he is to date the top scorer in the history of the Intercontinental Cup, which disappeared in 2004.

THE COURT OF THE GREAT, VERY VERY GREAT

A goal in the quarters, a hat-trick in the semis, a double in the final. Six goals in three World Cup matches (1958) where he started on the bench... and at 17! This is what we remember from the demonic journey of a magician who is unlike anyone else. What Pelé does on the pitch is not normal; he is a mad. And it is not his 643 goals in just 656 matches with FC Santos that will say the opposite. The man whom the Brazilian government designated as "National Treasure" in 1962 to prevent his transfer to the giants of Europe (Real, Milan...) practices a sport that no one understands. There is no coherent explanation for what he is seen doing on the green meadow. The man is a walking miracle, a wild and ruthless talent.

But during the Chilean World Cup of 62, after his first match and a goal against Mexico, the young man saw his muscle let go and was forced to abandon the competition. Fortunately, this Brazil comes from another universe, and even without its jewel for the future, it won the tournament, helped by the 4 goals of another wizard, a born dribbler, Manuel Garincha, nicknamed "the arch-footed angel! Yes, the same one whose stadium bears the name in the capital Brasilia, and where Cameroon will be corrected 4-1 against Neymar's Brazil in 2014

Frightened by the performance of a UFO accidentally fallen to earth from the stars, the adversaries will develop, during the World 66 in England, an "Anti-Pelé Plan", aimed at destroying the war machine with all the means at hand! This is how during the first match, after his usual goal - obviously - he was crushed for the first time by a Bulgarian defender, and went to attend the next match against Hungary on the bench. He returns in the third match between Brazil and Portugal, and is the victim of another assassin tackle by a Portuguese sentry, which will require heavy bandages. With its conductor cut like a sausage, the Seleçao left the competition to everyone's amazement.

But don't we ever say 2 without 3?

The year 1970 brings some innovations. It is notably the first World Cup in color on TV. And precisely, Brazil has also resumed colors. His eyes soaked with the desire for revenge, Pelé - already the King before the coronation - will exorcise everything he comes across in his path, starting with the poor English (winners of the previous edition), then the Romanians (to who he sticks a little double to say hello), before crossing Uruguayin halves. The Auriverde are on a mission to make people forget the nightmare of 1950 and the defeat at the legendary Maracana stadium, against the Uruguayans. 3 goals to 1 later, it's done, with Pelé who didn't score, but who discolored the television of the living rooms of all households with high-class actions. His goals, he reserves them for the final, and it is Italy who will pay the bill at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City. Number 10 sends three assists and a goal, and becomes the only living being to have won the World Cup three times. The whole planet then understands what it already knew in fact: a monster lives among us!

SPREAD YOUR WINGS

And yet, the master makes the decision to leave the national team the following year, at only 33 years old, because he considers that "it is better to leave when we want you to stay rather than when we want you to leave" . After a few more years at FC Santos to cause sleepless nights to his vis-à-vis, he went into exile in the USA within the New York Cosmos, to popularize a discipline that does not interest many people at Uncle Sam. And it will work - of course! -. 66 goals later, he becomes one of its major symbols, with the local championship in the bag, won in 77 alongside the German Kaiser, the double Ballon d'Or Franz Beckenbauer. Pelé finishes best player with 13 goals and 10 assists, and it's starting to be too much. To believe that the other players are only tree trunks!

And since everything has an end, the Lord of football will retire definitively the same year, to become the symbol, the myth, the legend that he is today, and that we have been told since our birth.

An exceptional event occurred in 1969, during an African tour of FC Santos. While Pelé and his band cross swords against Nigeria in Lagos in the middle of the Biafra war (1967-1970), the two opposing sides decide on a ceasefire of around 48 hours during the match , and Samuel Ogbenmudia, governor of the border region with the separatists, decided to open the bridge to traffic in order to allow football enthusiasts to attend the match, and to see with their own eyes, the one we wonder if he really exists.

Today Pelé no longer exists; the king is dead ! And yet the King lives; Pelé will always exist, since he has always existed since we exist. The whole earth says goodbye and thanks to an exceptional champion, to a mysterious entity whose crown no one really dared to challenge. For 82 unreal years, we have had proof that God exists... and that he is black!


Homework: How many Ballons d'Or would he have won if it weren't for these discriminatory rules? And if he had at the same time evolved at Real Madrid?

In the end, it is better not to know. Because that would have been a barbaric number for the fragile hearts

Long live *PELE*!
Long live the King!

IMAGE CREDIT : The Indian Express

*Carlos Mekontchou*.
(My last day of the year)

@myndd44 @seun