He may be retired from the pitch, but Brazilian legend Pele is always in the news because of his statements off it. Pele, who is often referred to as the greatest ever footballers to grace the beautiful game, seems to agree with that hypothesis himself.
Over the course of a sensational career, he scored more than 1,000 goals and has often been asked if there is a a Next Pelea whenever therea s a Brazilian forward who is doing well. The latest player to be mentioned in that category is Barcelona forward Neymar.
A host of stars including the great Ronaldo and Romario have been touted as the a Next Pelesa themselves, but have never been able to get close to Pelea s tally of 77 goals for the national team. Romario, however, believes that Neymar would break Pelea s record by the end of his career.
Nevertheless, the legend himself feels that there will never be a player who will come close to breaking his record.
“I think to be the new king, the new Pele, is impossible. Because my mother and my father closed the machine. I think he’s a good player, an excellent young player and he’s going to be a big star, no doubt.”
When asked if Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo may in the future be referred to as the all-time greats, Pele once again insisted that if he was playing he would be the one setting the standards.
“If you ask, would Beethoven be important now? Of course,” he said.
“If I was in this moment and prepared to play in this moment. The thing people forget is I was given a gift to play football, this is something no-one can judge.”
When asked whether he was shattered after Brazila s humiliating loss to eventual champions Germany in the World Cup semi-final, Pele said he remained composed, despite being let down.
“I didn’t think – I cried,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate that the two World Cups played in Brazil, in 1950 when I was nine years old, we lost. And now we lost again. This is something no one can explain.”
Luiz Felipe Scolari, who was the coach of the team at the time, was sacked following the defeat and former captain Dunga was appointed as manager. Pele also offered his view on the appointment.
“I think with Dunga… [he] has a different style to Felipe, more defensive, but I believe in Dunga,” Pele said. “He could make a good national team.”
Quizzed on whether or not Brazil can win a sixth World Cup in Russia in 2018, Pele added: “I hope so.”