Pele, Ali and death of gods

By Kunle Awosiyan

Just as tourists trooped to Muhammad Ali Centre at Louisville, Kentucky USA after the death of the boxer, the Pele Museum in Santos, Brazil is wide open to tourists after the death of the soccer legend on Thursday.

Edson Arantes de Nascimento, (Pele) played his last game without kicking a ball but the bucket and joined the list of sports gods that once gave joy to the world.

Perhaps these legends had met again, only God can tell. However in one of their meetings, Ali had told Pele, “Football is more beautiful than boxing but I’m more beautiful than you.”

That was the difference between them, one with the gift of the jab and gab, the other with the gift of dribbling and goals, but they are both gods. And they had both gone.

Just as Ali lived his last minutes in the hospital and died from Parkinson, Pele celebrated this year Christmas and his last minutes on hospital bed. He died from Colon Tumour.

These two dominated the ring and the field respectively to a level that the world had to immortalise them as the Greatest of All Time, GOAT.

Ali as three-time heavyweight champion, Pele as three-time World Cup champion.

Their immortality

Muhammad Ali Centre, Louisville, Kentucky is a multicultural museum where Ali’s various awards are showcased to boxing fans and tourists.

Pele Museum is a spectacle of his jerseys , shoes, pictures of his great goals including his 1000th that changed his name to King Pele.

The world will not forget this iconic sportsman in a hurry.

Adieu Pele, god of soccer.