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In an era when the Ballon d'Or was still translated as "European Footballer of the Year", only Europeans could win the honour, and Pele, like Maradona, was not eligible for the Ballon d'Or. However, as the organizer of the Ballon d'Or, France Football magazine decided to pay tribute (again) to the Brazilian who passed away on December 29, 2022. The editorial board of France Football made a deduction: if Pele could participate in the Ballon d'Or, he would probably win 7 Ballon d'Or like Messi (currently).
Here are the years France Football thinks Pele may win:
1958: Pelé (Brazil) replaces Copa (France)
1959: Pelé (Brazil) replaces Di Stéfano (Argentine naturalization of Spain)
1960: Pelé (Brazil) replaces Suarez (Spain)
1961: Pelé (Brazil) replaces Sivoli (Argentine naturalization of Italy)
1962: Garrincha (Brazil) replaces Masopst (Czechoslovakia)
1963: Pelé (Brazil) replaces Yashin (USSR)
1964: Pelé (Brazil) replaces Dennis Law (Scotland)
1965: Eusebio (Portugal)
1966: Bobby Charlton (England)
1967: Albert (Hungary)
1968: Best (Northern Ireland)
1969: Rivera (Italy)
1970: Pelé (Brazil) replaces Gerd Müller (Federal Republic of Germany)
In the absence of the Internet and the lack of television, it was not easy to form an opinion on the Ballon d'Or, and even in Europe, football information was largely dependent on the dissemination of written news, and France Football magazine had its own correspondents in many countries, but Europeans still knew very little about what was happening in South America.
That's why, for a long time, the Ballon d'Or was only for European players, and the award was created with the same focus on Europe as competitions like the Champions League. It wasn't until 1995 that the Ballon d'Or was extended to players who played for European clubs, regardless of nationality, and then from 2007, the Ballon d'Or was finally extended to the whole world, allowing players to be candidates wherever they played.
Obviously, the founders of the Ballon d'Or have always regretted not awarding this honor to Pele and Maradona during their playing days. How can one of the most outstanding football accolades be missed by the most outstanding player in history? In 2013, France Football magazine presented Pele with the Ballon d'Or. In January 1995, Maradona also went to Paris to accept the honor, unlike Pele, Maradona had not yet announced his retirement.
Pele's first Ballon d'Or was supposed to be won in 1958.
He showed at the World Cup in Sweden what it means to be "born out of nowhere". He did not play in Brazil's first two group games, only playing against the Soviet Union (2-0) in the last match, when he was 17 years old. From the quarter-final against Wales (1-0), Pele was like a whirlwind: 6 goals in 3 games, Brazil won the world title by a landslide.
Didi, who was voted the best player in the World Cup in Sweden, also had every chance of becoming a contender for the Ballon d'Or in 1958. The Botafogo midfielder soon moved to Real Madrid, when he was approaching his 29th birthday, Didi played more like a team player, Pele was a genius, he brought freshness, madness and instinct to the world of football, and most importantly, he could score many goals, dizzying after a magical succession.
In 1958, Pele scored 80 goals for Santos, and even at the time it would have been said that Santos' opponents were not as good as those of Spanish or Italian clubs. However, whether it was Spain from the top league (with Di Stéfano) or Italy, their performance in the World Cup at that time was not comparable to Pele's Brazil.
Two factors made it easy for Pele to become a winner if he had participated in the Golden Globes of the 1950s and 1970s. On the one hand, he is a World Cup star, he has played in 4 World Cups and won 3 times, leaving his mark on 2 of them (1958 and 1970), only in 1962 he gave way to teammate Garrincha due to injury; On the other hand, Pele's number of goals is unmatched by others, 100 in 1959, 110 in 1961... It's also too efficient.
Moreover, in addition to various Brazilian domestic titles, Pele has also provided convincing performances on the club's international scene. His Santos won the Copa Libertadores in 1962 and 1963, and won the Intercontinental Cup twice against European champions Benfica and AC Milan. At that time, South American stars had not yet come to Europe in large numbers to pan for gold, and who dared to say that European football was stronger than South American football?
In Brazil, which owned Garincha, Botafogo was another team that fascinated fans, and many young artists in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, chose to become Botafogo fans because of Garincha. Many people who watched the 1963 Copa Libertadores semi-final Santos vs Botafogo still have tears in their eyes when they talk about that match. Pele scored the equaliser in the first leg (1-1) and scored a hat-trick (4-0) in the second leg, one of the most successful games of his career. He then led his team to a 5–3 aggregate victory over Boca Juniors in the final.
In the list of Golden Globe winners above, the only player to break Pele's personal monopoly from 1958 to 1964 is Garrincha. At the beginning of the 1962 World Cup, Pele was injured, and then it was Garrincha who helped Brazil win a back-to-back world championship with his outstanding performances. In Brazil at that time, the only player who could compete with Pele for popularity was Garincha, who was admired and Garrincha was loved. In the games the two of them started together, Brazil never lost to any opponent.
In the deduction of the magazine "French football", from 1965, the Golden Ball returned to Europe. This is because Bailey's influence was diluted from the mid-1960s. In addition to the emergence of rising stars in the European league and Brazil's early exit from the 1966 World Cup, Santos increasingly allowed Pele to participate in lucrative friendly matches, he played less and less in South America, and played only once in the Copa Libertadores since 1965.
But at the 1970 World Cup, Pele was reborn. 1970 will always be a dazzling number for all the fans who were lucky enough to see the World Cup live on colour television for the first time. Pele was 29 years old and everyone knew it would be his last World Cup, but no one knew that Brazil would be considered the most beautiful team in football history.
People remembered not only Pele on color television (four), but also his individual performances that did not become goals: a half-time hanging shot against Czechoslovakia, a half-time match against Uruguayan goalkeeper Mazurkewics in the semi-finals, and a brilliant match against England saved by Banksy. Then there's his last masterpiece at the World Cup: a brilliant assist for a 4-1 goal against teammate Carlos Alberto in the final against Italy.
Such a World Cup was enough for Pele to win the 1970 Ballon d'Or, the 7th time in his life, like... The current... Messi the same.
Author: Wang Qinbo
This article was originally published in the Sports Plus app
The image comes from the Internet