Pele, considered by many the greatest soccer player of all time, died on Thursday, putting an end to an era in world sport, after fewer and fewer athletes are left alive, considered the best of the twentieth century.
After his retirement, Pele became a world soccer spokesman who traveled the planet promoting the sport and his own image as a celebrity. This allowed him to meet countless personalities, some of them at his own level among the best exponents of their sport. One of them was none other than Muhammad Ali, also considered the “Greatest” in his own sport, boxing.
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This historic moment occurred on October 1, 1977, when Pelé retired for good from professional soccer, wearing the jersey of the NY Cosmos of the now defunct NASL.
That night, “The Greatest” was present at the old Giants Stadium and at the end of the game he went down to the field to congratulate Pelé and even accompanied him to the locker room.
This was one of the many occasions in which both figures coincided in a public space, but not only did they live side by side, but they even considered each other as friends.
Pele’s condolence message to Muhammad Ali
After Ali’s death in 2016 due to Parkinson’s, Pele assured that he had lost a special person in his life: “my friend, idol and hero. I wish him to rest with God”. The Brazilian star shared on his social networks a photograph of the afternoon of his retirement, precisely receiving Ali’s congratulations.
He added: “We spent many moments together and we always kept in touch during all these years”.
He even referred to the words dedicated to him by the best boxer in history in those emotional moments they shared and, remembering them, Pele was moved to tears: “Everyone has to thank you“.
Two legends who shared an era
Just as Pele is recognized for winning the World Cup three times with Brazil, leaving, in addition, a cathedra of the magic he could do with the ball at his feet, being so far, the only player to win three World Cups.
Ali won the heavyweight title on three occasions, with a professional record of 56 victories with 37 knockouts, five defeats, one of them by knockout, showing power, speed and even aesthetics when “flying like a butterfly in the ring”.
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In a wonderful era of international sport, both figures coincided in their prime: Pelé made his debut on September 7, 1956, when he was only 5 years old. Muhammad Ali made his debut four years later, on December 27, 1960, winning Olympic gold in Tokyo.
For his part, Pele won first a World Cup (Sweden 1958), than a League tournament (1961).
Muhammad Ali, for his part, won his first world championship after surprising an experienced Sonny Liston in 1964 to strip him of his WBC and WBA belts.