Farewell Pele: One of Italy’s greatest opponents

Perhaps his most legendary moment was that towering header in the 1970 World Cup Final against Italy, securing the third trophy for both himself and Brazil, writes Giancarlo Rinaldi.

He was, quite simply, one of the best there has ever been. You can argue about the order, but nobody would ever dispute his place in the very top tier of all-time footballers. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known to the world as Pelé.

His star shone in an era before most South American players of his quality ended up plying their trade in Europe so his encounters with Italy and Italian sides were few and far between. The most famous was the dismantling of a tired Azzurri outfit in the final of the 1970 World Cup. There were a couple of meetings prior to that too, though.

One came in 1963 when Italy were triumphant in a friendly in Milan in a match where Giovanni Trapattoni was widely credited with cancelling out O Rei, the King. However, the truth was a little bit different as Il Trap himself was the first to admit. It was a good win against a side which were back-to-back world champions, but the man himself was not at his usual mercurial levels.

“Everyone remembers that game but he was not at his best and he played less than half an hour,” recalled Trapattoni many years later. “That’s not much to call it an historic clash. In truth, I played him a number of other times and it was always very tough. Marking him was hard, very hard – he could do everything and do it all very well.”

Indeed, 1963 was a busy year for the battling midfielder against a man already recognised as a genius of the game as they would clash at club level too. Santos faced Milan in a tempestuous two-legged Intercontinental Cup final which required a replay to decide. In the first match in Italy, though, Pelé showed what he could do – grabbing both goals despite his side going down to a 4-2 defeat.

He did not play the stormy return leg which the Rossoneri led 2-0 but ultimately lost 4-2 prompting the replay in Rio under the direction of the same controversial referee. Once again the great man did not feature as Santos won 1-0 courtesy of a penalty with Milan legend Cesare Prandelli seeing red. The trophy, albeit hotly contested, belonged to Pelé and company.

But it would be in Mexico seven years later that his most iconic clash with Italy would take place on the greatest stage. Those images – even for those who were not alive at the time – still flash before the mind’s eye. It was one of the most convincing triumphs in the history of the World Cup final.

In truth, the game was close for more than an hour but eventually a tired Azzurri side – following an epic semi-final with West Germany – succumbed to his magic. Now in the twilight of his international career, he had his eyes on an historic third triumph in the competition where he had first captured global attention and he was not to be denied. His majestic leap, header and celebration to score the opener in the final has become a famous moment of the sport.

That should have been the end of the story, but Roberto Boninsegna had other ideas as he took advantage of a Brazilian error to level the game before half-time. For 60 minutes and more, the Italians more than held their own but, in a devastating final 25 minutes or so, Pelé and his countrymen took centre stage to deliver a masterclass. There was little the exhausted men in blue could do but watch and applaud.

A long range Gerson strike snapped Italy’s resistance and then Pelé turned assist-man in the inevitable space that was formed as Ferruccio Valcareggi’s side pushed to get back in the game. A nice little nod down set up Jairzinho to make it 3-1 before a perfectly rolled ball allowed Carlos Alberto to thump home one of the World Cup’s most replayed goals. If there were ever any doubts that Brazil’s number 10 would be remembered for generations to come – they were dismissed in this dismantling of another of international football’s giants.

Few players have been more complete and that was how one of his greatest Italian adversaries recalled him. “He had physical strength, tactical intelligence, power and speed,” recalled Trapattoni. “And that’s not to mention his technique – left foot or right foot it was all the same to him and the ball always did what he told it.”

Anyone who ever saw him kick a ball – and many of those who didn’t – could recognise that this was one of the most special talents ever to play the game. He may have caused the Azzurri heartache, but that did not stop them from appreciating one of the greatest of all-time. Sport is winning and it is losing but it is also about being able to deal with both eventualities and give credit to the victors, no matter how hard that may be.

Pelé was something special – regardless of what colours you might support – and true fans of the beautiful game will never forget what he brought to the world of football.

@ginkers