Pele made his Santos debut in 1956, when he was only 15 years old. He remained with the club until 1974. So that's 19 seasons with Santos - pretty much his whole career. After that he retired.
Now his buddy who was the owner of the Cosmos - Steve Ross I believe was his name - must have asked Pele numerous times to come to America. The whole purpose was to try to bring increased awareness of the sport to the country. Pele was way past his prime, but he eventually agreed to do it.
One of the most common arguments soccer critics tend to bring up goes something like this: would Pele have been able to replicate his Brazilian success in
Europe? Would he have been able to score numerous goals against bigger and stronger opponents, week after week, month after month and year after year? Yes, Santos did play some exhibition games in Europe throughout the 1960s, but that's different.
And finally, what the heck does playing in NASL have anything to do with this? He was already retired, but decided to spend a few more years playing soccer in America (while partying hard and having fun with gorgeous women). The whole thing was promotional and it does not invalidate the arguments commonly made by soccer critics, nor does it invalidate this thread. By wanting to spend his whole entire career with Barca, it looks like Messi is going to make the same mistake as Pele and that's what I am trying to argue here.
And FYI, not everyone thinks Pele is the GOAT. Do some research on the Internet and you'll find thousands of threads that discuss this topic. Some say Messi, while others prefer Maradona. Here is what Maradona said about Pele:
"Do you know what? I played in European football for 10 years while Pele played in South America. Yes he won World Cups and everything, but playing in Europe is something else entirely," he said.
"Not that that makes me much better than him or anything like that. When I played, the man-markers in Spanish and Italian football were like hunting dogs. They never left me alone."
You can read the whole thing below:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-08-2...-place/1406780