Pelé's country surrenders to Maradona

Pelé and Maradona, during an award ceremony in 1987 in Italy.

Brazil, the country of Pele, surrendered this Wednesday without nuances to Diego Armando Maradona as soon as his death was known.

The historical rivalry with neighboring Argentina, the hostility between the fans of these two ball wizards, the comparisons, the lack of respect for the Argentine by the Brazilian fans were immediately put aside to give way to heartfelt tributes to the deceased star.

Pelé's reaction came in the form of a tweet: “I lose a great friend and the world loses a legend.

Much remains to be said, but for now, may God give strength to your family members.

I hope that one day we can play ball together in heaven. "

Talking about Maradona in Brazil so far implied two unavoidable comparisons.

First with Pelé, for the imaginary and subjective title of "the best player of all time."

The King of Brazilian soccer against the God of Argentine soccer, exponents of different times.

The other placed Maradona in front of the Brazilian with whom he really measured himself: Zico.

Two of the best 10s of the eighties.

They competed in some Brazil-Argentina, including the 1982 World Cup, in Spain, when Zico scored, Maradona was sent off and Brazil won.

“We were always rivals, but that was on the field.

He was the greatest of my generation ”, summarized Zico.

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A post shared by Arthur Antunes Coimbra (@zico)

The comparisons in goals and titles between Maradona and Pelé was replaced by an old video, from when Maradona invited his great antagonist on and off the pitch 15 years ago to his television program,

Street dresses, in a television studio, 10 albiceleste and 10 de la

starred in an unforgettable moment of head passes.

The premature death of Maradona suddenly changed the script for sports programs on Wednesday, the only day next to Sunday dedicated to football on free-to-air television.

Brazilian journalists who confessed to having fallen in love with football with the Argentine (too young to see Pelé) forgot the matches of the week to remember the idol and recover games with players who have not stepped on the field for more than two decades, but they never stopped being relevant.

The news made headlines of digital newspapers, mourned the networks.

And at night,

, the most watched television news program,

opened

.

"The universe of football loses a star of a first class greatness," the presenter said solemnly to give way to the image of a fan waving an Albiceleste flag with the phrase: "God is Argentine."

That moment pic.twitter.com/cvBMCumAEH

- Amanda Kestelman (@amanda_kest) November 25, 2020

Maradona was two decades younger than Pelé.

They both had their birthday last October.

Pelé celebrated his 80 years confined to his home by the coronavirus while Maradona reached 60 weighed down by his health problems.

Their personalities were diametrically opposed, their attitudes and positions off the field, too, but evidently their paths crossed often.

In 1979, he came to Brazil to meet the only three-time champion in the world.

Santos, the team in which Pelé played his entire Brazilian career, recalled after the Argentine's death that in the nineties they negotiated the signing of Maradona with the intermediation of O Rei.

It did not prosper.

He asked too much, according to Santos.

The attempts of São Paulo, Palmeiras or Flamengo to bring the Boca Juniors hero to Brazil were also unsuccessful.

Romario, who has been a senator for several legislatures, lamented the disappearance of his friend and the legend.

"Of the players I saw on the field, he was the best," he said.

President Jair Bolsonaro remained silent on the news that has shocked the world, which he has also done in the face of the deaths of relevant figures of Brazilian culture.

Just last week a tweet from him resurrected the eternal football (and political) rivalry between the Argentine and Brazilian stars.

It was a photo of a smiling Pelé showing an autographed shirt for the president.

Leftist former presidents Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff instead praised Maradona's strong and public political positions.

"He kept playing for poor people around the world," Lula tweeted.

Rousseff stressed that he should also be remembered for his defense of the rights of Latin Americans "to sovereignty, democracy and social justice."

Few times I saw a soccer player stop playing and not stop.

Maradona continued playing.

Ele continues to play in thought, in his political opinions, in his criticisms.

I continued playing poor hair in the world inside.

Video: Ricardo Stuckert pic.twitter.com/htUVDCL1Uu

- Lula (@LulaOficial) November 25, 2020

Years ago in the matches of the Brazilian team, a song was born to praise Pelé and belittle his rival.

“A thousand goals, just Pelé.

Maradona sniffing ”, in reference to the Argentine drug addiction.

At his death it did not ring.

Instead, retired footballer and commentator Walter Casagrande,

, made an emotional confession: “I'm a drug addict, I was hospitalized for a year and I know how difficult it was.

I ran the risk of dying several times, like him.

It could have been me.

I suffer a lot when a drug addict dies ”.

The fact that in such a short time his lifelong rivals have lost Maradona and Quino, Mafalda's father, has shocked many Brazilians.