R.I.P. PELE

R.I.P. Pele 1940-2022 /82 years

The name Pele is primarily a male name of Hebrew origin that means Miracle, Wonder. Pele, soccer player.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known mononymously as Pelé, was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, he was among the most successful and popular sports figures of the 20th century.

 

Although I'm not a football fan I was impressed, when I was in Santos, by the amount of trophies he and the club had won. They have a museum at the club





Pele signing his contract when he was a youngster


I managed to find a sign in English




The numbers in red at the bottom left are how many goals had been scored by the club up to the time I was there


The place is packed with trophy cabinets and here are a few. I have no idea what each one is but some of you football fans may know them.

 

And a small section for their Ladies' team


The grounds themselves didn't look all that much to me


As we're a gardening forum I thought I'd post up a few pictures from the town's small botanical garden which was round the corner






This was the boss of the gardens and he just wandered around checking out the visitors




And Agoutis were getting under our feet all the time - except at feeding time


Other wildlife were everywhere and didn't mind people watching (Radiated tortoises)


Although the males have and indentation in their lower shell so that they can rest on top of the female at important times it can be a bit precarious.


So I picked him up and set him the right side up

 

I am certain he was the greatest footballer ever and up amongst the best sportsmen of all time.

I think the most memorable thing for me was the incredible save by Gordon Banks in the 1970 World Cup. Pele was an amazing athletic header of the ball but Gordon pulled off the best ever save. Brazil still beat us and went on to win the World Cup, Pele's third.

He was a very modest, humble man, he never went in for the amateur dramatics modern footballers do, he had no need even though he was a target for all the dirty players at the time.

 

When I was chatting to some of the locals in the cafe near the grounds they all said the same as you. He used to come and sit with them and just chat about local and national things.