NY Times · Dec 30, 2022
Pelé Set Soccer’s Gold Standard. It Can’t Be Matched.
Who is better — Messi or Mbappé? Soccer’s greats will always be compared to Pelé.Credit...Joedson Alves/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesPelé’s graceful genius was just one part of what made him unforgettable.
He was a dervish, a magician, an artist whose speedy precision, bullet drives and twirling bicycle kicks were brush strokes offering a challenge to the staid, stationary, and traditional standards of the game he came to dominate.