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‘Before Pele, “10” was just a number. A simple goodbye to the eternal King will never be enough’: From Neymar to Cr7, football world mours its icon

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Brazillian footballer Pele, only player to win three FIFA World Cup titles, died at 82 after battle with cancer on Friday.

As the world of football tries to grasp with the loss, here is how footballers, clubs and national federations reacted to the development.

“Before Pele, “10” was just a number. I read that phrase somewhere, at some point in my life. But that phrase, beautiful, is incomplete. I’d say before Pele, football was just a sport. Pele changed everything. He turned football into art, into entertainment. He gave voice to the poor, to the blacks and especially: It gave visibility to Brazil. Football and Brazil have elevated their status thanks to the King! He’s gone, but his magic will remain. Pele is ETERNAL!!,” wrote Neymar on Instagram.

Cristiano Ronaldo paid a heart-warming tribute to Pele following his demise and wrote, “A simple goodbye to the eternal King Pelé will never be enough to express the pain that hits the entire world of football at this moment. An inspiration for so many millions, a reference of yesterday, today, always. The affection he has always shown for me was reciprocal in every moment we shared, even at distance. He will never be forgotten and his memory will last for ever in each and everyone of us football lovers. Rest in peace, King Pelé,” — the Portuguese star wrote.

“Your place is on God’s side. My eternal king. Rest in peace,” wrote 1970 World Cup winner Roberto Rivellino and teammate of Pele on the Brazilian national team.

“It will be very difficult to find another Pelé. Pelé had everything a player should have. Agile, jumped like no one, could kick with both legs, physically very strong and brave. There was no one like Pelé,” said Cesar Luis Menotti, Argentine coach and Pele teammate in the Santos football club in Brazil.

Here are more reactions –

Pele has been praised over the decades by everyone from world leaders to artists. Here are superlatives from over the years about Pele –

“To watch him play was to watch the delight of a child combined with the extraordinary grace of a man in full.” — Nelson Mandela.

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“I told myself before the game, he’s made of skin and bones just like everyone else — but I was wrong.” — Italy’s Tarcisio Burgnich, after playing against Pele in the 1970 World Cup Final.

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“Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory: Instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries.” — Andy Warhol.

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“I sometimes feel as though football was invented for this magical player.” — Sir Bobby Charlton, retired England great who won 1966 World Cup and Ballon d’Or in same year.

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“Pelé was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic.” — Johan Cruyff, the late Dutch star and standout manager who won the Ballon d’Or three times.

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“He is the most complete player I ever saw.” — Retired German great Franz Beckenbauer.

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“If you take the qualities of Cristiano Ronaldo and (Lionel) Messi, put them together, then you’d have a player to compare to Pelé!” — Retired Brazil forward Tostao.

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“The best player ever? Pelé. (Lionel) Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are both great players with specific qualities, but Pelé was better.” — Alfredo Di Stefano, the late Argentine star for Real Madrid.

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“His great secret was improvisation. Those things he did were in one moment. He had an extraordinary perception of the game.” — Brazil defender Carlos Alberto Torres.

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“This debate about the player of the century is absurd. There’s only one possible answer: Pelé. He’s the greatest player of all time, and by some distance, I might add.” — Retired Brazil star Zico.

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“The greatest player in history was Di Stefano. I refuse to classify Pelé as a player. He was above that.” — Hungary star Ferenc Puskas.

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“We went up together to head a ball. I was taller, had a better impulse. When I came back down, I looked up in astonishment. Pelé was still there, in the air, heading that ball. It was like he could stay suspended for as long as he wanted to.” — Italy defender Giacinto Facchetti.

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“When I saw Pelé play, it made me feel I should hang up my boots.” — Just Fontaine, the Morocco-born French star who scored 13 goals in six games in the 1958 World Cup.

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“The moment the ball arrived at Pelé’s feet, football transformed into poetry.” — Italian poet Pier Paolo Pasolini.

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“The difficulty, the extraordinary, is not to score 1,000 goals like Pelé — it’s to score one goal like Pelé.” — Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet.

(With AP inputs)



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