Two Latin American players of modest origins, two genius dribblers, two extraordinary scorers, two legendary number 10s and two football good looks… At first glance, Pelé and Maradona have more in common than reasons for division.
But between a clash of egos and a fight for the number one spot in the history of football, the Brazilian and the Argentinian never ceased to berate each other, before a late reconciliation.
"I lost a great friend (…). One day, I hope we can play ball together in heaven", paid tribute to Maradona the "king" Pelé on November 25, 2020, after the death of the Argentinian .
The Brazilian monument will now be able to carry out its legendary eleven project in paradise.
In addition to his best rival, he should even be able to recruit the Dutchman Johan Cruyff, his former teammate Garrincha or the English goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who had released the "stop of the century" for him.
“One day, I hope we can play football together in the sky” - Pele's message after Diego Maradona died in 2020.
Enjoy your game, legends 🙏 pic.twitter.com/t0l88bpILD
— GOAL (@goal) December 29, 2022
"You must always think that you are no better"
The two enemy brothers have never met on a football field.
And for good reason: when Diego began his career on October 20, 1976 with the Argentinos Juniors, Pelé was already in early retirement at the Cosmos in New York.
He definitely hangs up his crampons on October 1 of the following year.
Their meeting took place in April 1979, on the initiative of an Argentinian magazine.
The "king" receives the young prodigy in Rio, signs autographs for him, cuddles his younger brother and gives him some advice, including "Maintain your body, it's fundamental" or "Never pay attention when someone tells you that you you're the best. You always have to think you're not the best."
Pelé says he sees him as a successor – but the Brazilian will also say so later to other interlocutors, as revealed in an interview with L'Équipe by a Platini himself decked out with the compliment.
"Knowing Pelé was the World Cup that I didn't win," Maradona said after the game, as if consoled for having missed out on Argentina's first world title on home soil in 1978. However, the romance didn't last. just a while.
"El Pibe de Oro" shines with a thousand lights and takes his country to a second title at the 1986 World Cup.
All in a flamboyant style symbolized by a quarter-final against England where Maradona achieves a masterpiece, his goal of the hand - nicknamed "the hand of God" - and "the goal of the century", a ride through the whole field and the English defence.
A romantic epic, against the backdrop of the return of democracy in Argentina.
>> To read also: Argentina - England 1986: Diego Maradona's masterpiece
The sports press begins to compare them, to oppose them.
And the "king" is irritated by the growing place taken by the one he would have liked to see remain his vassal.
The banter begins: "He only has one left foot", "his only important goal was made with his hand"... Atmosphere.
Maradona the romantic against Pelé the consensual?
Certainly, his younger brother won only one world champion title while the "king" remains the only man to have won three.
In 1990, he lost the final and burst into tears in his adopted country, Italy.
In 1994, the story turned into a news item: tested positive for ephedrine, he was excluded from the World Cup.
>> To read also: Death of Pelé: 1958, 1962, 1970… The World Cups which made the king "immortal"
This is undoubtedly the primary difference between Maradona and Pelé.
The Brazilian always presented a slick image and played for just two clubs, Santos (1956-74) and New York Cosmos (1975-77).
With his six club experiences, Maradona has a sulphurous reputation fueled by shocking statements, controversial gestures on the pitch - from his red card at the 1982 World Cup to his "hand of God" four years later -, extra-sporting disputes, between cocaine and doping.
Pelé, Brazilian Minister of Sports between 1995 and 1998, is close to the institutions, and shed tears of emotion when Fifa presented him with an honorary Ballon d'Or in 2014. Maradona, with controversial friendships with the leaders of Cuba or Venezuela, on the contrary, has long been in conflict with Fifa after its suspension in the middle of the 1994 World Cup.
Beethoven versus
Ron Wood, Keith Richards and Bono reunited
Maradona has never balked at answering his eldest to bring him down from his throne.
"If I hadn't taken drugs, we wouldn't even be talking about Pelé", thus dared "El Diez".
He also made fun of his age, judging that his rival's place was "in the museum".
When Pelé compares himself to Beethoven and Michelangelo, he outbids: "Beethoven! We have never heard Beethoven on a pitch. The truth is that they changed his bottle (of medicine). In this In that case, I am Ron Wood, Keith Richards and Bono combined. Because I embodied the passion for football."
The attacks are also personal.
Pelé speaks of "a great player, but [who] is not an example" for young people, even suggesting that his titles be taken from him for doping.
"El Pibe de Oro" also responds below the belt: "He should first look at his home, because in his family there are also very shady stories."
A reference to the son of Pelé, sent to prison for having participated in cocaine trafficking.
In 2000, the dispute reached its peak.
Fifa organizes the election of the player of the century, with the two rivals in the final.
Like the world of football, the result is divided: the "king" wins the vote of the experts while the Argentinian has the favor of the public.
The latter slams the door, refusing to share the podium with his rival.
Maradona to Pelé: "One of my dreams is to make some heads with you."
🥹
RIP captions ❤️🇦🇷🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/5O9R9mpdIp
— The Best of Football (@LMDFoot_) December 30, 2022
A reconciliation in two stages
An event that sums up the political caricature often made of Maradona and Pelé.
The first would be the popular left-wing footballer, revolutionary and admirer of "Che".
The other, the symbol of right-wing football, consensual and close to the powerful.
>> To read also: From Castro to Chavez via Morales, the heart on the left of Maradona
Certainly, Pelé was erected as the figurehead of the propaganda of the Brazilian dictatorship at the end of the 1960s and then, in his last years, willingly dedicated a Santos jersey to Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right Brazilian president who regularly goes out. racists.
But it is quickly forgotten that the "king" appeared just as much with Lula or Dilma Rousseff during the Brazilian World Cup.
A healthy apoliticism.
On the Argentinian side, there was indeed an admiration for Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez but to make him an example of political commitment would be to ignore the excesses of the Castro and Chavist regimes.
And 'El Pibe de Oro' was never the last to seek the support of those with money, as evidenced by his murky ties to the Neapolitan mafia during his time in Italy and then to the Mexican mafia during his coaching experience with the Dorados of Sinaloa.
In the end, this troubled relationship with the powerful unites more than it divides the two men.
It would have been unfortunate if the two legends had been butting heads all their lives.
In 2005, Diego Maradona finally took the first step.
He invites Pelé to "La Noche del 10", his television show.
The two men kiss, discuss football, exchange jerseys and embark on a surreal game of passes from the head.
Twenty-seven for the two retirees!
If, later, the bickering resumes through the media and supporters, the two numbers 10 now seem well reconciled.
They appear accomplices at a gala in Paris in June 2016 then Maradona steals a kiss on the forehead of the "Rei" in 2017. When Pelé is hospitalized in the City of Light, the Argentinian shows him his affection by publishing a snapshot.
"How young we were...", he comments then.
Time flies for the two legends, now in the pantheon of football.
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