Before you catch the Pele movie, watch the best moments from his glittering career
Pele is synonymous with the beautiful game and some of the best moves ever seen on a football pitch.
It's about time. Directed by the duo of Jeff Zimbalist and Michael Zimbalist and composed by AR Rahman, Pele: Birth of a Legend was released on Friday – a biographical film about arguably the greatest man to have ever played football, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as simply Pele.
(Hold your horses, Maradona and Messi fans, your day will come.)
Pele was, simply put, a legend. Those who saw him play struggled to describe him. "Pele was made in heaven." remarked the well-known English journalist Geoffrey Green.
The "Black Pearl" won three World Cups for his beloved Brazil. In the first one in 1958, he was the youngest player of the tournament, but it hardly mattered – Pele put his mark on the tournament with some spectacular goals. And he saved his best for the final against Sweden. His first goal in game, where he flicked the ball up and behind the defender and then deposited it in the net is widely considered among the greatest goals in the game.
After being injured throughout the duration of the 1962 World Cup and being brutally fouled in the 1966 edition, an enraged Pele vowed he would never return to a World Cup. But thankfully, he had a change of heart and appeared in 1970. And football fans would be eternally grateful. Pele's World Cup was simply magic, as opponents had no idea how to handle him
But this isn't the best. Supposedly Pele's best goal was the one he scored against rivals Atletico Juventus as an 18-year old for Santos. Although there's no video footage of it, the goal was recreated using eye-witness accounts. Here's the recreation below.
There's probably no adjective to describe such audacity.
The Brazilian legend played his last game in 1977 – a friendly between his beloved Santos and his adopted New York Cosmos. He played one half for each of the teams, and in an emotional farewell, gave a speech in which he encouraged the crowd to shout "Love!" three times as a message of peace and harmony.