Following the death of Pele yesterday, a fantastic montage of the great player has been doing the rounds on Twitter.
It shows footage from modern players scoring goals and performing tricks, before cutting to clips of Pele performing the same footballing brilliance, many years before.
The reel is a timely reminder, among all the praise being heaped upon Messi in recent weeks, just how influential and ahead of his time the Brazilian legend was.
Brilliant Pele Montage
This video always gets me. Pick your favorite footballer and their skills.
Pelé did it first pic.twitter.com/l6oRYp1eSo— Luis Miguel Echegaray (@lmechegaray) December 29, 2022
26 November 2009; Brazilian soccer legend Pele during a visit to Trinity Comprehensive School, Ballymun, Dublin. Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
READ HERE: Pele Netflix Documentary Shined A Different Light On Maradona Debate
READ HERE: Balls Remembers - When Pele Played At Dalymount Park
In one of Pele's last major interviews, he discussed his everlasting popularity and football's love affair with the World Cup.
"Most of the children today watch [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Neymar, but they also know the name of Pelé. Maybe from their fathers, or from their fathers' fathers! But it is a big responsibility for me, because I can never make a mistake in my life. I always have to be an example to these children, but I thank God for this honour.
"I think there has been a little change from my time playing, but the big change has been in communication. When I was playing in the World Cup, the only way you could see football was on the radio or on TV, and not everyone had a TV. Now, people can watch any sport they like at any time: cricket, boxing, MMA, anything. Football is still the biggest sport, but you can watch any game, anywhere in the world, at any time. So the World Cup is not as special an event as it once was, which is sad. In my day, the World Cup brought people together."
SEE ALSO: "Rei Pele" - Tributes Paid To Brazilian "King", Dead At 82
