Harbinger of change

Pelé represented human possibility not just on the individual and collective level, not just economically and politically, but in a certain sense even spiritually

- PRANAY SANKLECHA

On December 18, Argentina played France in the FIFA World Cup final. We saw Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe in a duel for the ages, 120 minutes of heart-stopping action, a roller coaster of emotion, a game that many good judges call the greatest World Cup final of all times.

Eleven days later, as if content that the baton had been passed, and that the beautiful game was in good hands, Edson Arantes do Nascimento passed away.

The basic fact about Pelé is his greatness as a footballer. Let me quote some people who are better qualified than me to judge. According to Johan Cruyff, himself one of the fundamental geniuses of football, “Pelé was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic.” The Brazilian striker Romario thought that “instead of calling the game football, we should call it Pelé”. And when the Manchester United player Pat Crerand was asked, how he spelt Pelé, he replied: “G-O-D.”

Now, all of this is true and it is essential to an understanding of Pelé. But saying it also reminds me of a remark that V.S. Naipaul made about India. Visiting in the early 1960s, he wrote: “India is the poorest country in the world. Therefore, to see its poverty is to make an observation of no value; a thousand newcomers to the country before you have seen and said as you.”

And so it is with Pelé. To say that Pelé was a great footballer is necessary, but it is also to make an observation of no value. Many people have made it before and many people will make it again. I will not, therefore, be writing much about Pelé’s greatness as a footballer. I am interested in thinking about Pelé from a different perspective.