Pelé

It soon turns into a simple pat on the back of Pelé's former teammates as "the best footballer of all time", but it’s not about why so many consider him so. After all there is no mention of why he was/is what he was/is. The say nothing about his game, his style and characteristics. The say nothing about why he was ahead of his time. The say hardly anything about his career (there’s must be around ten words about his stint in Santos and the U.S.). The say nothing about his private life (it touches on his first marriage and infidelities, like, in one sentence). The say nothing about his significance for football outside Brazil. It's basically a purely "Brazilian take on Pelé and his four World Cups". That is no small feat, especially when backed up by many unique and deliciously restored footage. But even that it’s too all over the place. It only shows some highlights and a couple of results from the first three championships and Pele’s most famous World Cup in 1970 (it even omits “our” final in 1962). Meanwhile, a few of his teammates and Brazilian journalists at the time reminisce. It desperately lacks a clear concept, depth and at least a hint of conflict. I understand that compared to documentaries of other sporting greats (and it doesn't have to be Maradona or Jordan) it's hard to find the flip side of genius with Pelé (although one would think that the nonsense with nearly thirteen hundred goals is no longer mentioned by anyone except him), but without that it's such an uninteresting nostalgic pat on the back "yeah, we were special back then, thanks to him and God" without any depth. So much so that the roles of other players, who often had as much or more to do with titles than Pelé, are overlooked; the existence and role of Garrincha, including his status in Brazil, is perhaps purposefully concealed. There are a few hints that the writers wanted to get some of that conflict in there (Pele’s uncertain form before the 1970 WC, the failure to address politics/regime, the stigma of Uruguay), but it's generic and the moment they start talking about it, that's where the topic ends. So it's not a recap of Pelé's career, it's not a probe into his status as the "greatest player of all time", it's not about his private life before/during/after his career, and ultimately who knows what it is about. You won't take anything away from this that any casual football fan didn't already know very well already. And who but a non-casual football fan would even watch that, right? That leaves a respectful tribute to one of the greatest players of all time, nothing more and nothing less. Something though, you can see how world football evolved between 1958 and 1970, how it went from a walking sport where you had time to take a nap with the ball to a more modern concept, and how it's nonsense to look for the "best player" across generations. The greatest reward for the Czechs is to enjoy Petráš's goal from Mexico 1970 in the restored video. (24.02.2021)