Farewell to Pele, who died yesterday. All arguments regarding GOATs (Messi is better than Ronaldo is better than Zlatan or Lewandowski) are irrelevant here as there can be only one, and it is Pele. Here is an obituary in the Guardian.
I took this photo in August 1987 at Wembley before the Football League XI game vs the Rest of the World (when Maradona came out of the tunnel waving his "Hand of God" at the crowd!). It got me into a bit of trouble as I had fibbed I was unwell so I wouldn't have to go to a batmitzvah party after synagogue because I had a pass to photograph this match.
Before the game started, there was a crowd in the centre circle of the pitch. I couldn't see what was going on, but needed to get a shot for my boss, and I was too short to see over the other photographers, so I crawled between their legs and stood up in the front. I found myself in front of a tv camera which was recording an interview with Pele, and was immediately shoved back down to the ground. However, this was not before my face appeared live onscreen, and my lie was thus discovered.
But I got the shot. And an autograph. RIP dear GOAT.
