r/classicsoccer

This goal changed the history of so many teams.

• This moment eliminated a very talented Ecuador side that had beaten Argentina and tied Brazil in this campaign.

• Uruguay would go on to reach the top four in South Africa.

Pele acccodring to my research is still till this day the most complete attacker to ever play this sport. He is not the most complete player as that goes to di stefano. Ill probably make one for him aswell if people are interested.

Pele had it all. People think Pele was a goalscorer, a Striker. But his best as he mentioned himself was behind the striker. I can't call him a 10 and I can't call him a 9. The best way to describe him is a 9.5 because he could do both at the same time and no one could stop him. Not only was he the best player on the ball, but if you try to man mark him like Maradona for expample he could still burst in behind with this insane speed and you would be left in the dust. Try to do that he will know the exact run to make to open up space for his teammates. If teams try to play a low block, man mark him, protect the space, not only does he have the ability to do it solo or shoot from wherever he wanted from with both feet but he can also influence a game just with his head. And he showed it past his peak and was even doubted by the public in the biggest game of all which is obviously the world cup final vs Italy. He scored the opener with the iconic header and than assisted jairzinho with a header.

To sum it up. Speed, power, playmaking, IQ, impact, left foot, right foot, header, control, positioning, skills, dribbling, even defending. He is actually estimated to defend nearly around the same level as a Thomas muller which really shocked me as he got everything in his locker. THE only minus Pele had where he wasn't special at was that long range ping pass players like kdb, platini, Pirlo have. But it doesn't take anything away from him.

Pele had a ability where when he stepped on the pitch he would not only be the best player obviously, but everyone around him would be better. Take jairzinho and rivellino for example. Both by far played their best football with Pele and both never reached close to those heights again without him. Usually when you play with greats Messi, Ronaldo, zindane, you sacrifice more for them to shine. And for a good reason they will win you matches. But alot of players who are better than what we see struggles to make an impact cuz the main man usually takes it to his own show you win the game and that's what's important at the end of the day. But than we have those flukes. Messi in the later stages of his ucl career. Ronaldo In international tournaments, Zidane in the league. Pele is one of the few players where i have seen where most of the players plays better. The reason I think why this is the case is because Pele is one of the most intelligent players of all time and he didn't really need covering as much as other players to play his best football. So everyone else had extra space to operate and pele used that to his advantage.

Now the most impressive stat i have ever seen from any footballer. No it's not the g/a obsession people have lately football goes beyond that. Pele in 851 estimated games in competitions he lost only 145 games. That's a shocking 83% chance he would not even loose. That's by far the most impressive stat i have ever seen. And we are not done. With Pele in a team your odds of winning a trophy is estimated to be 51.1%. it's literally basically a coin flip. And it's not like he played in a team where he had all the advantages. Yes Brazil was a powerhouse of a nation they even won without him when he got injured and was impacting the game on the sidelines. For the people who wanna know more about that watch his documentary. But Brazil without him was damaged. Santos was not CLOSE the team team it became with Pele.

Some of the myths to debunk: "Pele never played on Europe" sure he didn't and everyone should still be greatful he did not or else he would have owned it and looked even better as a player. Estimated 143 games 153 goals and 39 assists for the stat lovers including that his impact goes beyond stats. And those are not like the Wolfsburg, Sunderland, levante. We are talking about Madrid, barcelona, inter, Milan, benfica etc. Him staying in south America made his stats worse. And it wasn't even that he didn't want to go and challenge himself. We was about to go to the big European club. But Brazil viewed him as a once in a life time treasure. They made it illegal for any club to even try and sign him.

"Pele is a fraud he scores goals in his own backyard." Well he Scored 1 goal per game in offical matches and he scored 0.97 in friendly matches so what exactly is the logic here? Apparently he is a stat padder cuz he played friendly matches, but somehow he scores less goals per game in around 200 Games less? Is it so hard to appreciate someone's greatness rather than put them down to push your favorite players agenda? Even if you don't like the terms friendly games Pele had to play those because the pay was much higher and Santos desperately needed money. So he gets punished for straight up just helping his team. Respect the generation that came before you wveeytji is not going to stay the same. Which is why I do rate his 1000 Goals.

19th November 1969 it was so huge even the oponents prayed he didn't miss which he obviously didn't. The second that ball hit the net the game was immediately stopped 100s of fans, reporters, photographers all entered the pitch before the game was even over, it was the 78th minute. They painted the iconic 1000 on the ground i bet everyone have seen it. When Pele broke the record he didn't make it about himself unlike a certain someone will soon. Just a little joke we all know who I'm talking about. But he said: "for the love of god, people, now that everyone is listening, help the children, help the helpless. This is my only wish." This is why he is nicknamed the king of football. The city was all shout church bells and celebration all over south America as it was broadcasted. After that presidents wanted to personally come just to congratulate him and shake his hand. Queen Elizabeth was one of them.

I can honestly go even longer brag about his performances in the world cup how good he actually was from 17 year old till he scored 125 goals in a calendar year. His dominance in the Copa America and the times he played in the Copa libetadores. But i hope for now that I have atleast proven that Pele deserves some respect as we this all the time there is a new generation of football players. You don't have to agree that he is the greatest i understand the cases of Messi, maradona, beckenbauer, di stefano etc, but Pele's name should always be up there. For me he is THE greatest. And I'm pretty sure Messi especially will go through the same phase where the younger generation calls him a farmer, look how slow the game is, no intensity etc. If you don't understand basic evolution respectful i dont think your qualified to speak about all time football. Disrespecting Pele for being older is like saying your smarter than Isaac Newton for the exact same reason.