I find that hard to believe... Even I remember doing things like that as a five year old* playing with friends... I'm sure others had tried if seeing an opening even if not successful. (*which, granted, would have been after Pele, but I wouldn't have known who Pele was)... That said, I imagine it was a much more impressive stunt in Pele's day considering the balls were heavier and harder to be pinpoint accurate with.
Tbf, there was very little TV coverage in those days so they were probably scratching around for something to show.
Modern day fans only know about Puskas, Pele, Maradona, etc because of playing Fifa. My eldest for example, knows who Yashin is but mention the likes of Gazza, Psycho, Platt, Robson, Butcher, etc and he won't have a clue
no loss there then. in fairness.theres no real difference in ability bar seeing lads being able to kick people and be aggressive rather than standing up trying to defend space now. special talents are what kids ought to see and be amazed by
"I was born to play football, just like Beethoven was born to write music and Michelangelo was born to paint. Every kid around the world who plays football wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a football player but how to be like a man" - Pele RIP to the greatest ever footballer and great man. Thoughts are with his family
no idea who did it but it is an interesting one. the idea that people value HD footage over eye witness testimony is interesting to me. Messi is great but puskas summed it up this way; Di Stefano was the greatest ever player in his opinion because pele was so far above the description or mere player. the footage of him smashing frees with what in effect was a brick of a football is amazing to me.
I’m not trying to downplay Pele or any of the older generation of players as I know rubbish pitches, heavy balls, rubbish boots etc. but when you see some clips some of the defending does look horrendous. Genuine question, was defending back then worse than it is now? Was the fact that you could get away with kicking players a lot more meant that didn’t have to be as good a defender as now? So many clips of defenders just rushing in to kick things, so slow to turn or get into a decent defensive position?
You just can't compare different era's. Pele and Maradona looked brilliant, head and shoulders above everyone else. However, who is to say they were just ahead of their time or that they'd be even better under modern day conditions? You can only judge them from the time they played in and how they compared to their opponents; the top players in the game at the time.
who's to say they wouldn't be either? people are not 8 feet tall now and they are not 5 times faster either. the conditions have improved, the science has improved, the technology of footballs have improved, tackling is all but outlawed. you can see the game is quicker based on just going hell for leather and having big squads but there's nothing to say a guy who survived 12 years of kickings, winning world cups across the time and playing in Europe with Santos for massive money as extra games just to keep the guy with that club you can see guys hacking at him in the footage and him just gliding past them. imo anyway he'd be the same today. a totally different level. I mean we all can see that Ronaldo technically is perfect, headers, shots whatever. we can all see Messi has thr spark of brilliance that puts him just that level above but pele had the best of each and then assists nobody would ever see. I think he would stand up today as would maradona. I wouldn't dis the modern lads surviving in please era either. I'm sure they get in there and survive as well. I personally think some young folk are as ignorant as sin concerning these eras and old folk are as ignorant as **** in dismissing modern day as well.
Well first off you are talking different styles and conditions. the fact is the game has changed in terms of what's allowed as contact and defenders could be brutal and use that as the first option to soften up opponents. however you only need look at the types of players that were great defenders there were also to know its not "worse" when you think of keeper running about with no gloves at all saving shots from a ball twice the weight and having no bother catching the ball while forwards thumped into them no issue it's the same for defenders on **** pitches wearing heavy boots but you still had towering cbs like charlton and that and ball playing types like Beckenbauer it's this simple, you can watch Messi run the line for Argentina in the world Cup final and into the box and he's on another level of control with every touch and still be able to see pele was exactly the same in total control of the ball in a grainy old video it's thia simple Messi can dribble, Messi can pass Ronaldo can head the ball, Ronaldo can shoot pele could do all that and pass like modric or pirlo, or Zidane, take frees like anyone you care to mention, invent bicycle kicks and flicks and all sorts like Ronaldinho. it's just a shame there's not more video tbh.
here's a fun one for you. people of a certain age might recognise some names of the opposition who all got the honour of thoer lives to play with a 50 year old pele
Impossible to compare... All you can do is compare to others of the same era... And not every striker was scoring boatloads of goals against incompetent defenders, which suggests it couldn't have been that easy. But I'm also 100% sure that not only boots, balls, pitches are better but so are tactics, athleticism,.nutrition and mental focus... We know more about maximizing performance every year... So of course the players themselves are better now... Maybe James Milner is better than Pele, (not 100% being silly with that statement either)... I do believe today we make better athletes... But if he is better, it's only because he's had the advantages of better training and technology. How good would Pele be with James Milner's background? That's impossible to answer but most people would predict he'd be better than Milner.
