Why is Pele the only player called “The King of Football”?
The biggest football festival on the planet in Sweden became Pele’s show. Although only starting from the last match of the group stage due to a knee injury before the World Cup, the 17-year-old prodigy still shines with 6 goals, 1 goal in the quarterfinals, a hat-trick in the semi-finals and a brace in the final. ended, bringing Brazil to the top of the world for the first time.
The feat in the 1958 World Cup turned Pele into a living saint in the eyes of samba fans. His talent is recognized worldwide. Many big teams in Europe such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus or Napoli are ready to roll out the red carpet to welcome Pele.
However, Pele was unable to move to Europe because of the incredible story. In 1961, the President of Brazil, Janio Quadros, decided to use his power to push the Parliament to introduce a law that considers Pele as… “national treasure” for 10 years. Therefore, during his career, Pele was almost exclusively with Santos, before moving to the US to take care of his old age in the New York Cosmos shirt.
Unable to compete at the top in Europe, Pele still makes the whole world go crazy every World Cup. He helped Brazil win two more titles in 1962 and 1970, and helped Selecao become the first team to score a hat-trick to win the championship and permanently win the Jules Rimet Gold Cup. Pele owns an unprecedented record, the only player to win the World Cup 3 times.
In Pele’s time, football was still a free game. Players often have to protect themselves from injuries. The football law at that time was not complete, and there were no clear and strict penalty frames, so the defenders slashed. Therefore, the risk of serious injury is very high. Yet throughout his playing career, Pele rarely had to leave the pitch and still shine brightly.
In 1999, Pele was voted by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) as the best player of the 20th century. In the same year, the prestigious magazine France Football recommended the owners of the title of Ball. Gold chooses the best player of the century, and they choose Pele. Also in 1999, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) named Pele Athlete of the Century. While Time magazine has included the name of the King of Football in the list of 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
In 2013, Pele received the honorary FIFA Ballon d’Or award in recognition of his contributions as a global football icon. During his career, Pele scored 1281 goals in 1363 games, including unofficial friendlies. This achievement helped the Brazilian legend enter the Guinness Book of Records for the most goals.
At the club level, Pele is currently Santos’s all-time leading goalscorer, and also led the Sao Paulo state team to win the Copa Libertadores two years in a row, 1962 and 1963. He was given many high nicknames by fans. precious, such as: “The King of Football” (O Rei do Futebol), “The Black Pearl” (Pérola Negra), “King Pele” (O Rei Pelé) or simply “The King” (O Rei).
