Yesterday, the FIFA President, Gianni Infantino made a remarkable statement. In due course of time, FIFA will ask every country in the world to name a football stadium honouring Pelé.
Football, as we see it today owes a great deal to the charm and personality of the great Brazilian.
The 1958 World Cup, where he announced himself to the world as a seventeen-year-old teenager was the first to be televised internationally.
In the final of the 1970 World Cup, where he led the Brazilians to their third title, was the first to be broadcast in colour.
However, it was Pelè’s passion towards charity work and his efforts to globalise football that helped him break barriers.
During his visit to Nigeria in 1967, the armed forces signed a 48-hour ceasefire so that the opposing forces could watch the Brazilian maestro cast a magical spell on a football pitch.
Since America had not warmed up to football yet, Pelè signed up with New York Cosmos and he spread the word of “the beautiful game” or “o jogo bonito” – a term he had coined. As a result, “soccer” became fashionable in the United States and the Cosmos played in packed stadiums across the country.
Also, he opened the barriers in the minds of footballers too by changing their perceptions of what was possible on a football field by shooting from the halfway line in the 1970 World Cup and popularising the bicycle kick.
However, it was his ability to unite the world through football and spread happiness through the game that will be his greatest legacy:
