Pelé was defined in the last couple of decades by what he wasn’t — namely, Diego Maradona.
Pelé was soccer’s straight-edged 💴 counter to Maradona, the outspoken cocaine addict who fraternized with Communist dictators. Pelé was the company man, Maradona was the 💴 outsider, their differences magnified by their petty long-standing quarrel over who was the better player.
To the generation whose formative years 💴 overlapped with Maradona’s prime, the Argentine’s off-the-field troubles were a byproduct of the same unpredictability that made the diminutive attacker 💴 the greatest player of his time.
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In the wake of tactical evolutions that have increased coaches’ control over games, the triumph 💴 of an individual player is by definition a destruction of a system. Maradona’s behavior characterized this rebellion. Pelé’s tendency to 💴 smile and smile and smile some more was … what?
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