“If (Pelé) had been there this year, he would have been very sad” about the crisis in Brazilian football, said Edinho, son of “king” Pelé, in an interview with AFP a few days before the first anniversary of the death of his father.
“He was always very concerned about the fate of Brazilian football,” said Edinho, a former goalkeeper who became a coach and one of Pelé’s seven children, who suffered from colon cancer and died on December 29, 2022 at age 82 in Sao Paulo.
A year after the disappearance of the legendary and brilliant Brazilian striker, triple world champion with Brazil (1958, 1962 and 1970), the Seleçao, orphan of Neymar, injured on October 18, at least until next summer, will not is indeed not doing very well.
After six days, it only occupies sixth place, the last directly qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, in the Amsud group where it remains with a defeat at the Maracana against Argentina (1-0) on November 22. “We are experiencing a decline (…) We still have great players, but before we had more top players than today,” Edinho said.
To this crisis of results was added another, institutional one, with the dismissal on December 7 of Ednaldo Rodrigues, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), by judicial decision. The Rio de Janeiro court invalidated an agreement that allowed his election.
“This crisis did not appear overnight, these are important and complex problems,” said Edinho, 53, who coaches Brazilian second division team Londrina in Parana state.
Santos FC, where the famous No.10 spent most of his career, is also going through difficult times. The port city club was demoted to the second division at the beginning of December, a first in its 111 years of existence.
“Unfortunately, this comes as no surprise. Anyone accompanying the daily life of the club could anticipate such a scenario, which ended up materializing,” said the former Santos goalkeeper for several seasons, in reference to several years of financial, sporting and institutional crisis. .
On Friday, the ceremonies commemorating the first anniversary of the disappearance of Pelé, whose mausoleum where his remains lie was opened to the public last May in Santos, will be discreet.
The six living children of the man considered the greatest football player of all time will hold an “intimate” virtual reunion, some living in the United States, and a mass is planned in his honor in front of the Pelé museum. “He was exceptional, we miss him a lot,” said Edinho, about the one who “carried the name of the country through football, which we are very proud of.”
