The King is now eternal; Pele dies at 82

King. Genius. Fabulous. Phenomenal. Tremendous. Words seem not enough to describe the greatest footballer the world’s ever seen. Maybe that’s because what Edson Arantes do Nascimento represents can’t possibly fit into a bunch of letters. But now, for sure, he’s eternal.

 

HE REIGNS FOREVER The throne is not empty. It’s just not here anymore. At the same second the physical body of Pelé gave its last breath on this day, December 29th, football’s kingdom was transcended to a celestial plan where he keeps sovereignly reigning forever.

 

From here his subjects - now in mourning - know that nobody can ever fill the space left by his physical absence. Pelé made the eyes of Brazilian fans shine for the 20 years that he played football as the pioneer of fascinating moves amazingly executed and extraordinary statistics easily achieved by players nowadays.

 

WORLD RECORDS In the meantime, Pelé gathered titles that led him to his throne. Just to mention some of them, he holds three Guiness World Records: the greatest number of goals scored; the greatest number of World Cups won; and the youngest footballer to win a World Cup.

 

HE'S ETERNAL More than that, Pelé made things look like they were easy. Outside the pitch, he fought for social causes, stood up against military dictatorship in Brazil and made football into a weapon to fight against misery.

 

Today, the football kingdom is suffering as its King has passed away. But when the sun comes back to shine again we will all know: Pelé is alive. In football, He’s eternal!