MOSCOW, December 30 – RIA Novosti, Vasily Bogdanov. Former head coach of the Russian national team, Boris Ignatiev, told RIA Novosti that Pele is a tuning fork in world football.

Pele died on Thursday, aged 83, after a long illness.

“For me, the personification of Pele’s genius was the match between the USSR and Brazil in Moscow in 1965. At that time, we did not have the opportunity to follow football as we do now. Crowds, most of them went to Luzhniki without tickets. There were but to arrive at the stadium in four hours. “I had to, so that no one could take my place. And everyone went to see Pele’s magic. I especially remember when he threw the third ball from the outside of his left foot. It’s his right. The hardest thing is not to waste time and pace. A real genius, don’t say anything,” the source added. .

Pelé (full name – Edson Arantes do Nascimento) is the only football player in history to be a three-time world champion (1958, 1962, 1970). The Brazilian national team, who scored 77 goals in 92 matches, shares it with Neymar, the top scorer in its history. At club level, Pelé represented Brazilian Santos for 18 years, played three more years for the American New York Cosmos, ending his career in 1977. Pele is included in the Guinness Book of Records for the most goals in his professional career – according to some reports, the Brazilian scored 1281 goals.

In September 2021, he was diagnosed with a colon tumor. In 2022, he was hospitalized twice at Albert Einstein Hospital for activities related to the treatment of three malignant tumors (bowel, liver and lung) and a urinary tract infection. On November 30, 2022, Pele was hospitalized in an unplanned manner due to general body edema, heart failure, and confusion.