Talk of a collapse and a hospital stay would appear to be exaggerated. Pele’s spokesman is adamant that the great man is merely suffering from tiredness, and did not feel up to travelling to London to receive a tribute from the Football Writers' Association.
Recent kidney and prostate problems have taken a toll. But Pele was present and correct last Monday, albeit walking with the help of a zimmer frame, at an event in Rio de Janeiro. He gave an interview to a local TV channel – and with it came a fascinating revelation. Had things worked out better for him and the team, he would have retired from international football after winning the 1966 World Cup – at the age of 25.
“My dream in 1966 was to go to England and really play well, because it was the English who brought football to Brazil. You have to see how I trained… the training session came to an end, everyone left and I stayed out there. I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to be playing in England, so I’m really going to have to play well.’ And then I was going to quit.”
But there was little chance of things turning out the way he wanted. The ever astute England coach Alf Ramsey had come to the conclusion a couple of years earlier that Brazil would not be one of the teams to be feared in 1966. They had won the previous two World Cups – with a 17-year-old Pele shining in 1958, but pulling out injured in the second game of 1962 – but Ramsey thought there was a lack of quality renewal in the side.
Brazilian football was also in a moment of political chaos – in part as a consequence of its own success. The historical centres were Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Now other centres such as Porto Alegre and Belo Horizonte were also on the rise, and all the different regions were pushing for their players to be included in the World Cup squad. Brazil called up 44 players, and had trouble cutting their group down to 22 – with a final list including any of the '58 and '62 champions who were still standing.
And if all that was not bad enough, there was also the question of the disastrous refereeing of the 1966 World Cup. Almost all the officials were European, and the way that they went about their business did much to end European domination of FIFA. It was in 1966 that Brazil’s Joao Havelange realised that he could put together an anti-European alliance and unseat England’s Stanley Rous - and some of that discontent came from the World Cup officials.
Pele, for example, was kicked from pillar to post in 1966, and finally reduced to a limping passenger in the defeat to Portugal that sent Brazil crashing out of the competition in the group phase.
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So there was no third World Cup win for Pele in 1966, and no early retirement. He did flirt with the idea of not playing in any more World Cups. After being injured in 1962 and booted out of 1966, perhaps he was jinxed. It was 1968 until he played for Brazil again – and by now he was obsessed with the idea of going out in style in Mexico '70.
And that, of course, is the way that it happened. The mature Pele, with a magnificent supporting cast including the likes of Gerson, Tostao, Jairzinho and Rivelino, produced a magnificent tournament – and in the first World Cup broadcast live around much of the globe, they served up some unforgettable memories. And that was that.
Coach Mario Zagallo, singer Elza Soares, local FA boss Havelange – they all tried to get Pele to play in West Germany in 1974. The campaign went on for ages. But Pele held firm. “I said no. God had already been very good to me, so let me bow out as champion. I could have played, but I said no.”
The interview is especially fascinating becomes it shines so much light on the force which motivated so much on field greatness. Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, is clearly motivated by the quest to win individual awards – without that fire burning within, he would not have worked so hard to take advantage of every little bit of his natural talent. Lionel Messi, on the other hand, seems less concerned. His principal objective is to shine in a collective context – any prizes that come his way are merely a consequence, not an aim.
In last Monday’s interview, Pele expressed a preference for Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo, on the basis that the Argentine is more complete. But in temperamental terms, perhaps he is closer to the Portuguese. His confession makes it abundantly clear that he was thinking about himself first, and the team second. The idea of going out on a high, and thus protecting his legacy, was clearly part of his psychological make up from a very early age – he was thinking that way before he had reached his mid-20s. And the idea of being useful to the team in 1974 was not enough to get him out on the field – he had to be the big global star, towering above the game. Without the guarantee of individual glory, he would not risk his prestige in one last World Cup.
It is a way of thinking that is clearly open to be criticism. In a way, Pele is obviously placing his own needs in front of those of the collective. But he was not a selfish player – think of the glorious simplicity of the passes he gave for Jairzinho to score the winner against England, or for Carlos Alberto to belt home the final goal in the 4-1 win over Italy in the final. And if a bit of ego is the price to be paid for the level of football that he displayed, the clear conclusion is that we all got a bargain.
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