The first person in the Old World to be crowned football king was Eusébio Ferreria of Portugal, referred to as the Black Panther, the Black Pearl, and O Rei. However, simultaneously, in the New World another football king was being crowned.

He was simply referred to as Pele.

Ferreria was one of the first players recruited to Europe from Africa and is still considered the most significant player to come out of the continent. He was an extremely talented forward with a devastating shot and was said to run the 100 metre in under 11 seconds. He represented Portugal internationally and Benefica in club football and later several North American outfits. It is often said that Ferreria was the best in his era, but Pele is the best ever.

So who is this other king called Pele?

Across the pond in Brazil a phenomenon had arisen named Edson Arantes do Nascimento, nicknamed Pele. He joined the Santos Football team in 1956, winning several trophies, including nine League Championships, a Libertadores Cup, and an Intercontinental Club Cup. Like Ferreria, the young Pele was sometimes called the Black Pearl.

Pele played his first World Cup in 1958 as a 16-year-old and created an overwhelming impression with his deft dribbling, kicking, and innovative skills. He scored five goals, including a hat-trick, in that 1958 competition. As a result, Pele was declared a national treasure by the Brazilian Government. He has played in four World Cups (1958-1970), collecting three unheralded World Cup trophies.

Did I say innovative skills?

Renowned Jamaican Coach Max Straw put it succinctly when he reminded of Pele’s nutmeg (“salad”), overhead bicycle kick, shin rebound pass, no (“naw”) look pass, own (“auto”) pass, overhead pie, and the list goes on.

In 1975 Pele was lured to the USA to promote the game they called soccer. He became the face of football in North America. He was honoured as the Athlete of the Century by the International Olympics Committee in 1999, World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History in 2000, and joint FIFA Player of the Century in 2000.

Now, as is said, uneasy is the head that wears the crown.

Such has been the journey for king Pele. Every player who shows any semblance of ultra-talent is quickly compared to him. So, as the glitter of Pele’s legend loses its shine with age, many are the pretenders to the king’s title. But Pele has survived the test of time and all challenges to his crown.

So what are the criteria for one to be the king of football?

The measurement of this greatness seems primarily based on a players’ goalscoring ability. So the great goalkeepers like Dino Zoff, Levy Yashin, and Gordon Banks; outstanding defenders like Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore, and Paolo Maldini; plus top-shelve midfielders like Johan Cruyff, David Beckham, and Michel Platini are discarded to the dustbins of football’s history. Only the forwards and a few excellent goalscoring midfielders qualify for the big title.

What then qualifies a forward to be the football king?

First, is it the number of goals scored, the percentage of goals scored per match/career, or the number of assists? Second, is it the amount of club trophies, international trophies, or Ballon d’Or Awards? Third, does it include on-the-field and off-the-field behaviour? Finally, does it consider the contribution a candidate makes to the growth of the football product?

So, as the old lion sits under health clouds, the princes and heir(s) apparent are lining up to take over the prestigious mantle of the world’s king of football who has outlived many wanna-be usurpers to his throne and surely wants to hand the crown to a legitimate heir.

Who then deserves to take up the title of the king of football?

If the measurement of the king hinges upon a person’s contribution to their team’s goal tally, then there is no need for an in-depth analysis. Josef Bican, the Austrian Czech, would win hands down. Bican has contributed a fantastic 1,006 goals and assists to the 530 games in which he played, with a conversion rate of 1.9 goals per game. Yet, with such statistics, he is hardly remembered in the corridors of football. This is evidence that the king of the game is not a function of goals scored or assisted.

It requires other qualities.

Looking back at Eusebio’s statistics, one can see why he was also referred to as the king in his era. He had an incredible conversion ratio of 0.99, almost one goal per game. However, his major downside was his selfishness on the field. Eusebio was a hard-nosed striker who hardly assisted on goals. Nevertheless, he was confident of his ability to score consistently as his speed and strength were enough to overpower the most formidable defensive systems of the time.

The first real challenge to Pele’s supremacy came from the Argentine football prince Diego Maradona. The table shows that Maradona has the lowest goal-conversion ratio of all contenders. However, a conversion ratio of 0.81 goals per match is quite decent for a midfielder and good enough to share the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award with Pele. Some say that Maradona’s high public profile was based on his infamous “Hand of God” spectacle and a 60-meter goalscoring dribble during the 1986 World Cup. But two famous incidents doth not a football king make.

In addition to a World Cup win, Maradona’s most outstanding achievement was to almost single-handedly take a virtually unknown club named Napoli to the zenith of Italian and European football.

However, Maradona’s off-the-field antics tarnished his overall reputation and probably harmed his chances of being taken seriously as football’s next “Field Marshall”.

As the volcanic rush of Maradona subsided, another Brazilian football prince exploded on the global football runway. The name of this fascinating player was Romario Faria, and he became an authentic challenger to Pele’s title(s). He was the sensation of the 1994 World Cup won by Brazil. That year Faria copped the Golden Ball award, Player of the Tournament, and FIFA World Player of the Year.

Faria has a conversion ratio of goals per game of 0.90, which ranks him behind most of the other contenders. However, this belies his contribution to Brazil’s World Cup victory in 1994 and his significant input to club football in Spain. He has the distinction of scoring 100 goals for three different clubs. In 1999 he was awarded fifth place in the FIFA Player of the Century and was chosen in a FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002.

Faria shot to infamy when he painted the face of his Coach Mario Zagallo in the toilet bowl at his club. This was in response to Zagallo leaving him out of the 1998 Brazilian World Cup squad. So, naturally, Romario was upset and retaliated with the painting. As a result he was fined R$1 million for defamation. His detractors opine that such behaviour automatically disqualifies him from inheriting the title of the king of football.

Faria is undoubtedly one of the best strikers to grace a football field. He has been praised by Cruyff as a genius, Ronaldo of Brazil has called him a skilful opportunist, and Maradona said he is the best player he ever saw. Furthermore, legends like Roberto Baggio and Maldini of Italy considered Faria the most efficient and decisive operator in the penalty area.

Faria later followed Pele’s footsteps by transitioning into politics and was elected a Brazilian senator in 2014.

Through all this posturing, Pele seemed to have held his own, shaking off the reputable challenges of contemporaries like Ferreria and Josef Bican and the princes Maradona and Faria to remain the king of football.

But the young heir(s) apparent were coming.

The first of the youngsters to come to the fore was the Portuguese Christiano Ronaldo. After getting a foundation in England, Ronaldo moved to Spain, where he became a genuine football product. As a result he has been proclaimed the Portuguese Player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation. In addition, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d’Or awards and four European Golden Boots honours. Ronaldo is seen by many as the king of the modern game.

With a conversion ratio of 0.94, Ronaldo contributes almost one goal to every game he plays. He has accumulated numerous trophies, including:

i) England – one FA Cup, three English Premier League, one Community Shield, one FIFA Club World Cup

ii) Spain – two La Liga, two Copa del Rey, four Champions League, two FIFA Club World Cup

iii) Italy – two Serie A, two Supercopa Italiana, and one Coppa Italia.

These accomplishments has caused Ronaldo to be highly touted as Pele’s natural successor.

That was until Lionel Messi of Argentina crashed the party.

Messi has stolen much of Ronaldo’s early sheen. He has won more Ballon d’Or awards than Ronaldo (seven) and more European Golden Boot awards (six). An Olympic gold medalist, Messi spent most of his career in Spain. There he won many trophies, including 10 La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey, and four UEFA Champions League. Messi also boasts a conversion ratio of 1.18 goals per game played, and his statistics have consistently bested that of Ronaldo.

Messi, like Ronaldo, has also been referred to as the new king of football. But can they be compared with the reigning king, Pele?

And what about Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, the new star on the block?

Neymar has existed in the shadow of his two senior rivals, Ronaldo and Messi, but is now of age to assert his claims as the new king of the beautiful game. He has only played half of the games of his storied competitors. Still, he boasts a contributory goal conversion ratio of 0.95 or almost one goal per game. Moreover, statistics show that at 26 years of age he had accomplished more than Ronaldo and Messi at the same age, scoring and assisting at a higher rate.

Neymar has accumulated an Olympic gold (Brazil), one Copa Libertadores (Santos), one Champions League, one Club World Cup, and two La Liga (Barcelona), three Ligue 1 (PSG), and an assortment of lesser titles. In addition, he is now equal to Pele in international goals scored.

So which of the aforementioned players deserves to be called the king?

We can all agree that the deadliest striker is Josef Bacin. His impressive conversion ratio of 1.9 per cent (almost two goals per game played) can’t be matched. The nearest to Bacin is Pele, with a conversion rate of 1.3 per cent, followed by Messi (1.2 per cent).

The princes’, Maradona and Faria, accomplishments are acknowledged by all. Still they fall short of the mark set by king Pele. On the other hand, the heirs apparent, Ronaldo, Messi, and Neymar, are impressive and have taken the game to another level. But have they done enough to be considered king of the world’s most popular game on and off the field?

Ronaldo and Messi are winding down their careers, while Neymar, at 30 years old, is no longer a work in progress. Yet none of these three fantastic players have ever won a World Cup medal.

What has any of the these superstars done for the game itself?

Pele has been an ambassador for football from the beginning. He has been credited with making the game popular in North America and Africa. He has inspired countless youth of all heritage, especially many coloured players. As a kid, it meant so much to see the football world grovel at the feet of a black person. Pele proved to the world that colour was irrelevant, and he remains one of the world’s most significant black sporting icons. As such, his contribution to the growth and popularity of football and racial equity is invaluable.

It takes more than scoring goals to be the king of football.

Suppose, God forbid, king Pele passes on. In that case, the statistics indicate the immediate and rightful successor must be the more-accomplished Messi. The Argentine has been exceptional throughout his career and during the ongoing 2022 World Cup, scoring goals, setting up critical plays, and exhibiting appropriate leadership skills.

Brazil has been sent packing. Hence, Argentina is now a genuine contender for this 2022 World Cup trophy, and Messi could take them all the way.

However, I smile when I watch the exploits and jockeying of the young heir(s) apparent. Pele is still the king of football and is going nowhere soon. So the youngsters need patience, don’t they know that.

“When coco ripe, im muss buss.”

Rohan M Budhai is a tax consultant, writer, and history enthusiast. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or mariobudhai@yahoo.com.