Pelé retired before I became aware of him. The first time I ever heard his name was in Pelé’s Soccer, a video game for the Atari 2600. Like many Atari games, it had cool cover art, but the gameplay required a lot of imagination.

Pelé transcended soccer. Everyone knew who he was, the way you might know who Michael Jordan is, even if you don’t pay attention to basketball. In fact, when debates about the greatest athlete of all time come up, Pelé is always there.

And now the king of soccer has died.

If you want to learn more about him, Netflix has a documentary called Pelé, FIFA posted a lengthy tribute, and this YouTube video curates some of his greatest World Cup moments. Watch this play in particular a few times, and then read this article about it.

Joga bonito!