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ladyem8 OP t1_j2nije0 wrote

Reply to comment by Ray_Pingeau in Brazilians to bid final farewell to Pelé with 24-hour wake and coffin procession by ladyem8

Wait, what? I somehow hadn’t heard about this.

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Ray_Pingeau t1_j2nivbk wrote

It was the Nigerian civil war

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ladyem8 OP t1_j2njlss wrote

I’m actually tearing up right now. They really called a 48hr ceasefire just to watch him play (and the civil war continued for a year after the game). No violence or arrests at the stadium during the match, either. I knew Pelé was the GOAT, but I don’t think I appreciated the full extent of his impact.

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Ray_Pingeau t1_j2njr1r wrote

I’m not even a soccer fan and I think he’s the most important sports icon of all time.

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El_Mec t1_j2pbxcq wrote

It’s really a contest between Pele and Muhammad Ali (Ali was a big star in the US but absolutely gigantic in most of the rest of the world)

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thorpie88 t1_j2r2efq wrote

Other guy I'd say is Inoki. He basically formed the basis for MMA with him fighting Ali and then used Wrestling to free a bunch of prisoners in Iraq at the height of the Gulf war

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truddles t1_j2o1vdn wrote

I know nothing about soccer and very little about sports. Why do you think he's the most important sports icon of all time?

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Ray_Pingeau t1_j2o3x35 wrote

A country held a cease fire to watch a player play soccer who isn’t even from Nigeria. What other sports star playing a game was the result of a cease fire? People literally stopped killing each other to watch him play.

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Jestersage t1_j2ovdtq wrote

There's a few others, but that's over 2000 years ago, but that's original Olympic games, with fear/respect of greek gods in people.

...did I basically equate Pele to a greek god? I will take it.

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ladyem8 OP t1_j2o2zfl wrote

I’m not being rude at all, but I’d literally just Google him. Maybe check out his Wikipedia page. There’s probably too much to fit into a single Reddit comment. But it’s worth searching out :)

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YoxScorpion t1_j2o980y wrote

Probably because football is the most popular sport in the world. Think about the icon that is Michael Jordan. Except that much more people watch and play football than basketball or any other sport. Pele made the number 10 special, only player to win the World Cup three times (his first one at only 17 years old), more than a thousand goals etc. He was clearly dominant over his peers, made the game look beautiful and got more people to get interest over the game. Every kid knows who is Pele and gets inspired on him, even when they didnt see a game of him.

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jdbolick t1_j2ozb2g wrote

Muhammad Ali, but Pelé is certainly near the top.

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Uaex_ t1_j2pb7f5 wrote

I did some research. Michael Jordan is regarded (by most of the world) as the most important sports icon of all time

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Jumbo_Jetta t1_j2pk4ev wrote

My research says the same thing, but I grew up near Chicago.

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Uaex_ t1_j2pphgl wrote

Same. And I didn’t do any research

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ShitPostQuokkaRome t1_j2p4k9u wrote

Once a ref gave him the red card. The red was subbed off and he kept playing.

Not a joke, once in a Colombia Brazil game in 1969, in Colombia with almost only Colombian fans, there was a short brawl between a Brazilian player and a Colombian, and Pele tried to calm the brawl off; the referee from afar thought it was Pele who started a fight. Gave him the red card for that.

Pelé even left the pitch, but the Colombians who saw the action unfold better booed the referee so much, that he had to leave and he substituted for with a different referee, once Pelé returned the pitch on the request, the crowd (of, again, Colombians) started cheering with their lungs of happiness because Pelé returned to the pitch.

Pelé states that's the moment he felt/understood he became a global monument. The Colombians forced so that Pelé, the most dangerous rival, to come back to play.

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