TRIBUTE BY WOLE AKINYOSOYE: Good bye, soccer king | TheCable
If life were a soccer pitch and death could be dribbled, Pelé would still be alive, kicking and driving, but death is an equal opportunity agent; it catches up with everybody in due time, and the world goes unending.
Pelé was our superman before the advent of Superman, and many fables circulated about his extraordinary skills on the pitch. We admired his panache and knack for scoring goals. We gabbed about boots, balls, the game, and, inevitably, the magic of King Pelé. We knew he lived far away in a spot we couldn’t locate on the map, but we still felt a part-ownership of man.
Commenting on the trajectory of fame-to-shame that is the lot of many a sterling career these days, someone remarked that “the best of men are just men at their very best.” The best of men melt like wax with the intrusive glare of the all-pervasive paparazzi and social media. Even celebrities soon become subjects of tawdry jokes on sex, drugs or filthy lucre. It is a mark of rarefied greatness that Pelé carried his fame to the grave, especially considering how it lasted.
“It is difficult for Argentina to find a comparison with me since they have been unable to determine who is the best in Argentina,” Pelé retorted in 2010 when asked about his rumoured succession by Maradona. The King meant there were better players in Argentine history unworthy of holding a candle to him.
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