Pele is my favourite sports figure over the past 50 years.
It’s not just that Pele is the greatest footballer who has ever lived. Nor that, while possessing the most skill, he played the best brand of football, winning, practically everything in his career. Nor even his legendary production with 1281 goals in 1363 games.
He is my favourite, because he made the game look ridiculously simple.
Pele made me believe that I could do it too.
Pele reinvented football, constantly. And in doing so, inspired millions of fans for the next five generations, to take up the game and try to recreate the magic he made look so natural.
When I think of football, I go back to grainy black and white footage of a World Cup semi-final between Sweden and Brazil Sweden
This was football.
It was being played by a maestro, an imperious professional, who made the ball dance as he laughed, a performer from the street it seemed, who made the game fun while making it look easy
Pele played on some of the greatest football teams to have graced the game, no doubt. But as a player he did something far greater – make everyone watching, believe that they could play football just like him; in a way empowering us all to be just as great, inspiring us all to perform just like him. A gift is doubly valuable when passed on with interest, and Pele did that, many times over.
For that, he is peerless, second to none.
