Former Brazilian soccer player Edson Arantes do Nascimento ‘Pelé’ affirmed this Wednesday that his “great friend” Diego Armando Maradona, who died seven days ago, was “a true legend” impossible to compare.
Pele rejected comparisons with the Argentine star and confessed his love for “El Pibe de Oro.”
“Many people loved comparing us throughout their lives. You were a genius who enchanted the world. A magician with the ball at his feet. A true legend. But above all, for me, you will always be a great friend, with an even bigger heart, “said Pele, 80 years old.
“Today I know that the world would be much better if we could compare ourselves less to each other and start to admire each other more. Therefore, I want to tell you that you are incomparable, “he completed.
Pelé and Maradona did not coincide on the pitch, but for decades they had a media rivalry.
In 2010, the living legend of Santos y el Cosmos went so far as to affirm that Maradona “accepted” the position of Argentina coach at the time because “he needed a job and money.”
The Italian singer criticized the extensive coverage that the death of the Argentine soccer player received.
The former Boca Juniors, Barcelona and Naples player then responded with a “return to the museum”, although in recent years they have shown admiration and mutual affection.
However, Pelé wanted with this new publication to bury this image of confrontation with «el Pelusa».
«Your career was marked by honesty. You always declared your loves and heartbreaks to the four winds. And that particular way teaches us that we have to love and say ‘I love you’ many more times. Your quick departure did not let me tell you, so I hardly write it: ‘I love you, Diego,’ “said Pelé.
He also thanked him for everything they lived together and assured, in an allusion similar to the one he already made on the day the Argentine idol died, that “someday, in heaven,” they will play “together on the same team.”
“And it will be the first time that I will punch the air without celebrating a goal, but rather, to give you one more hug,” he concluded.
Maradona died on Wednesday of last week at the age of 60 as a result of a cardiac arrest that he suffered in a residence in the Buenos Aires town of Tigre, where he was recovering from a recent operation to which he had undergone a subdural hematoma.
