Pelé (1940–2022)

In the span of just a few months; working for Barnes & Noble has allowed me to meet two of the worlds' most famous sports icons. First, hockey legend Bobby Orr, and then just recently, football legend Pelé. Upon reading their books what struck me almost immediately was the sincere humility both men expressed in their bios. Fans open up these books wanting to learn more about amazing accomplishments they made on the playing field. And both books provide those in great detail but. But both of these men made it a point to describe how they used their fame, not just for their own good, but for the good of others as well. Being a star of international acclaim, this is especially true in the case of Pelé's bio. The subtitle of the book says it all. While Orr's subtitle is "My Story", Pelé's subtitle is "Why Soccer Matters" and right from the first page, Pelé shows, just how much, and why it does. An very inspiring read.… (mere)

I’m writing this during halftime of the third-place match between Brazil and the Netherlands. Brazil is down 0-2 and is coming off of the worst World Cup semifinal defeat: their 7-1 loss against Germany earlier this week. How is this possible? One of ESPN’s Men in Blazers remarked that as he spoke to different members of the Brazilian team, more than one of them told him—straight out—that God had chosen him for this team and to bring glory to Brazil as they hosted this World Cup, the first since their disastrous 1950 final match, when they lost against Uruguay.

Why Soccer Matters begins with that World Cup, when Pele was ten and listened to it, with the rest of Brazil, on the radio. Newspapers proclaiming Brazil’s victory had already been printed (a la “Dewey Defeats Truman”) and everyone there truly believed, as the chant goes, that they would win. That same kind of thinking was seen in the coverage of the 2014 loss to Germany, when the story on ESPN and everywhere else was not Germany’s win, but Brazil’s defeat. This opening section of the book is a terrific portrait of the hysteria that swept Brazil and what the loss did to the lives of the players. In 1970, the goalkeeper Barbosa was in a store and a woman patented at him and told her son, “That is the man that made all of Brazil cry.”

The remainder of Why Soccer Matters covers four more World Cups and Pele’s involvement in each, two as a player (1958 versus Sweden and 1970 verses Italy) and two as ambassador (1994 in the US and 2014 in Brazil). Pele describes his rising fame and his constant surprise at how he is worshipped, his courtship by the Cosmos, and his work with the Brazilian government. There are some terrific anecdotes (especially one regarding a hotel maid whose husband planned on seeing Pele play but had a fatal heart attack two weeks before the match), insights into the training Pele underwent when he began his career at Santos, and the ways in which soccer was affected by the rise of TV and bigger paychecks. Throughout it all, he comes across as a down-to-earth man who thanks God for his gifts and speaks humbly about them.

Brian Winter, the ghostwriter, deserves great credit for fashioning Pele’s reminiscences into a page-turning book. It isn’t Ulysses, nor does it attempt to be. It’s a book to be read in a weekend. If you’re interested in what it’s like to be one of the most famous athletes in the world or if the 2014 World Cup has sparked your interest in the beautiful game (a phrase I knew but did not know was coined by Pele), read this.
… (mere)