The final curtain call on Pelé’s otherworldly career did not come at a World Cup or Copa America or even back home in his native Brazil. But the scene – in East Rutherford, New Jersey, of all places – was still magnificent enough to be worthy of perhaps the most famous athlete of the 20th century.
Pelé – who died on Thursday aged 82 – was a global icon long before he came to the US in the mid-1970s to end his playing days. He has already led Brazil to three World Cup titles. He was already considered the best footballer who ever lived. And even in a country and at a time when soccer barely registered in the American consciousness (and where it did, it did so with constant derision and disrespect), Pelé was a bona fide superstar. The 80,000 people who packed into Giants Stadium on October 1, 1977 for their inaugural match – the likes of Muhammad Ali and Mick Jagger among them – speak for themselves.
Only the true greats shine bright enough to single-handedly change history. And the fact is, the inroads the planet’s most popular sport has made into mainstream culture in the United States over the last half-century can be traced directly to Pelé’s 28-month stay at the New York Cosmos. Basically, it was Pelé who put modern American football on the map.
Pelé leaves the field following a game at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, circa 1975-77.
Didn’t 34-year-old Pelé take the decision to come out of retirement to play in the old North American Soccer League, a signing that led to huge crowds and the arrival of other stars like Carlos Alberto, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff. , the potential for soccer state would probably have gone unnoticed.
FIFA probably would not have awarded the US hosting rights for what turned out to be a wildly successful 1994 World Cup, which is still the most attended tournament ever. Major League Soccer, created and launched as a condition of landing that World Cup, would not have even taken off. Now a fixture on the North American sports landscape, MLS has grown to 29 teams and will begin its 28th season in February.
Without MLS, there’s no way the next World Cup would be headed to this continent in 2026 as a 48-team event held in cities across Canada, Mexico and the U.S. The US-hosted 1999 Women’s World Cup might not have been held here, or won by the home team team inside a packed Rose Bowl. The foreign players who followed Pelé to the NASL, put down roots in their new communities and became youth coaches here after the league collapsed in 1984, would not have contributed to the development of the American youngsters who formed the backbone of the US national teams. that ended a four-decade hiatus from the men’s World Cup in 1990 or won the inaugural Women’s World Cup a year later.
Pelé’s unlikely move to New York was the rolling snowball that led to everything that happened next. Back then, it was unusual for players to leave their home countries. In a sense, Pelé also started the super club trend, although he never played in Europe; besides Santos in his hometown of São Paulo, the Cosmos was the only club team that Pelé represented. Today, it’s perfectly normal for the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain to not only covet or court the biggest names in the sport, but also inevitably land them.
Pelé led the Cosmos to the NASL title a few months before his swan song, but his impact off the field was far greater. Pelé was the first global icon of soccer and also the superstar of the world’s Black athlete, paving the way that Ali, Michael Jordan and others would later follow.
“I remember growing up reading books about Pelé,” Ali Curtis, a former Hermann Trophy winner at Duke University who played in MLS before becoming the first Black general manager in league history, told FOX Sports more early this year. “One of the reasons I started playing was because the guy who was regarded as the best player ever was Black.”
Armed with a perpetual smile and larger than life despite standing just 5-foot-8, Pelé was a charismatic ambassador for his game wherever he went. Even if American sports fans didn’t respect football, they respected him and his status as the GOAT. Pelé was as approachable as any living legend could be but also as big a draw as there was in New York, where he was a fixture on the social scene. His love affair with his adopted city didn’t end when he hung up his boots; Pelé maintained a residence in Manhattan all the way until his death.
It seems somehow significant that Pelé’s death comes just 11 days after Lionel Messi won his first World Cup for Argentina – who lost their own all-time great, Diego Maradona, two years ago last month. Messi, after all, is the man many believe has surpassed the Brazilian as the best ever. That title, however, remains in debate. Pelé is still the only player who won three World Cups, still the youngest scorer in competition history, still the youngest to bag a hat-trick, and still the youngest to find the net in a final.
Pelé’s enormous contributions to soccer in the United States are indisputable. Pelé’s love for the country and his belief in what soccer could become here were critical to the development of the game across North America.
Doug McIntyre is a football writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer at ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he covered the US men’s and women’s national teams at several FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
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And to play like Pelé is to play like God.” – Retired French star and three-time Ballon d’Or winner Michel Platini. “Pelé is the greatest player in football history, and there will only be one Pelé in the world.”
Who is the best football player in the world?
| # | Player | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 2 (2016, 2017) |
| 2 | Robert Lewandowski | 2 (2020, 2021) |
| 3 | Lionel Messi | 1 (2019) |
| 4 | Luka Modric | 1 (2018) |
Who is the first player in the history of football? Cristiano Ronaldo â 1147 He played 342 times for Man United and 438 times for Real Madrid, winning every conceivable club title with both clubs. Ronaldo is the all-time leading scorer in men’s football and has 194 appearances for Portugal.
Who is No 1 Messi or Ronaldo?
Messi and Ronaldo have quite a few similar trophies, but Messi tops things when it comes to league titles, having won La Liga 10 times with Barcelona and Ligue 1 once with PSG.
Who is the No 1 footballer in the world now?
1 soccer player – Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi made his mark for Barcelona as a teenage sensation and soon became one of football’s brightest stars. See the article : Former Florida Coach Dan Mullen Lands ESPN Job, Sources Say. He scored his first professional goal against Albacete in 2005.
Who is called as goat?
It is typically abbreviated as G. To see also : Top recruit Dylan Raiola decommits from Ohio State.O.A.T. or GOAT. Greatest of All Time may refer to: 100 Greatest of All Time, a sports television series of five one-hour episodes, produced and first broadcast by the Tennis Channel in March 2012.
Who is GOAT Messi or Ronaldo? At club level, Messi holds the record for most goals in La Liga with 474. In total, including club and country, Messi has scored 793 goals in 1,003 appearances. He also has 350 assists to his name. On the other hand, Ronaldo scored 819 goals in 1,145 appearances for both club and country.
Why are they calling people the GOAT?
GOAT stands for Greatest of All Time. Read also : Patrick Mahomes is preparing for another leap. GOAT is an internet slang initialism used to compliment athletes, musicians or other celebrities.
Who is GOAT of football now?
Ronaldo and Messi were the two names for the title of G.O.A.T. of Football.
Why is Pelé inspiring?
To other poor Brazilians, Pelé was a source of hope and faith that they too could overcome their difficulties. Journalist Joao Luiz de Albuquerque said of Pelé’s impact: “He was the light at the end of the tunnel. All the poor people said, ‘hey, this guy did it, I can do it.
Why is Pelé a hero? “He is one of the few people who became more influential, more popular, more famous and more legendary after his glory days than during them.â[1] He is a hero in every sense of the word: for what he represents and which he did, but perhaps more, because he would not let hubris get the better of him.
What did Pelé do to change the world?
He gave a voice to the poor, to the Blacks and above all he gave Brazil visibility. Football and Brazil raised their standing thanks to the King! He is gone, but his magic will live on.†Pelé scored 12 goals in 14 World Cup matches and is the only three-time world champion, winning titles in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
Why is Pelé considered the greatest of all time?
Pelé, universally considered one of the greatest footballers ever, has died at the age of 82. The Brazilian forward, named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999, won the FIFA World Cup an incomparable three times and won joint . national record 77 goals in 92 appearances.
What is special about Pelé?
Pelé’s electric game and penchant for scoring spectacular goals made him a star around the world. He led Brazil to three World Cup football (soccer) championships (1958, 1962, and 1970). He scored 12 goals in World Cup play and tallied more than 1,000 goals in first-class matches.
