Pele remains the marker to whom modern greats such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are compared.
The Brazilian legend is one of football’s most iconic figures and his death at the age of 82 brings the curtain down on a life and career that entertained and inspired in equal measure.
The forward, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in Tres Coracoes in 1940, was just 15 years old when he made his Santos debut in 1956, winning his first Brazil cap the following year.
It was at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden that Pele first commanded international attention, though.
Brazil were yet to lift the Jules Rimet trophy when Pele first burst onto the scene, but the teenager helped kick-start a period of success for the South American nation with a series of scintillating displays.
After breaking into Vicente Feola's starting XI for the final game of the group stage against the Soviet Union, Pele thrived during the knockout matches, scoring six goals as Brazil saw off Wales, France and Sweden to clinch their maiden title.
Pele's influence began to tell domestically too, scoring 127 goals in 1959, and Santos picked up the first of five consecutive Taca Brasil crowns in 1961 – the same year he was declared a Brazilian national treasure – before a groin injury hindered his involvement in the country's successful World Cup defence in Chile in 1962.
Santos collected back-to-back Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup triumphs in 1962 and 1963 – Pele scoring in all four finals – but he was a marked man at the 1966 World Cup in England, with heavy tackles limiting his influence as Brazil crashed out at the group stage.
There would be one last World Cup flourish for Pele, though, scoring the opener and turning in a superb final display as Brazil beat Italy 4-1 to reclaim the title, earning the legendary striker a record third tournament win.
After a brief retirement, Pele eventually closed out his career playing for the New York Cosmos in the United States.
Pele's achievements have been celebrated with countless individual accolades, including being a joint winner of FIFA's Player of the Century with Diego Maradona in 2000.
"God was really generous with Pele in every way," former international team-mate Rivellino told Stats Perform. "Physically speaking he was a perfect athlete.
"He was fantastic, a good team-mate, very positive, always pushing us to win.
"He was a guy I learned a lot from, he was an example for me on the pitch.
"He wanted to get perfection. It is difficult to get there but he got very close to it.
"His headers were the best, his ball control was like no one else's, he was great with both legs. He could even play as a goalkeeper, so he was a phenomenal player and I believe in life I will not see anyone like him.
"All he won and did, for me there won't be another one.
"Another great player may appear – an excellent player – but another king like him? No."
Pele spent his later years working as an ambassador for a variety of charitable causes and commercial partners, but it is his magic on the field that will forever set the benchmark.
Conte: Napoli need to focus on improvement, not Serie A lead
Napoli should pay little attention to their place at the top of Serie A, so says Antonio Conte, who has demanded improvement from his team.
Romelu Lukaku's second-half goal handed Napoli a 1-0 win over Roma on Sunday.
That victory sent Napoli back to the summit of Serie A, with Conte's side one point ahead of Atalanta, Inter, Fiorentina and Lazio, while Juventus are only four points back in a six-team title race.
Napoli needed to get back to winning ways after a draw against Inter and a 3-0 loss to Atalanta before the international break, and Conte insists his team must sharpen up.
"Before the match, I told the lads not to look at the table, but to focus on ourselves and improving what we are working on," Conte told Sky Sport Italia.
"I maintain that now too because we need to take a series of steps to raise the level.
"I was satisfied with the performance for a good 65 minutes today, we could’ve taken more of our chances and were up against a strong Roma who have great players.
"Roma were also making their debut under a new coach and therefore were very eager to prove themselves, but we still should've dealt with the final 15-20 minutes better, as we sat too deep and made it complicated for ourselves."
Roma, playing under new boss Claudio Ranieri, came close to equalising when Artem Dovbyk hit the woodwork with a header.
Ranieri came out of retirement to take charge of Roma following Ivan Juric's dismissal earlier in November, though the visitors had just six shots and accumulated only 0.6 expected goals (xG) at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
"If we look back, we have some problems and that is why I was called. We were up against a team that is fighting to win the Scudetto," Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia.
"Having said all of that, I am happy with the performance from my players. We made some mistakes that we will talk about during the week, but the hunger, the determination to get back on track was there.
"We have a lot of work to do, but I feel positive.
"We know there is work to be done, we have to focus on reacting rather than sitting there feeling sorry for ourselves.
"The [players] need the right character to help themselves and then others. Naturally, when I arrived, the team was a little closed up, but I think we started to open up a bit by the second half."
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
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