Pelé’s always been everywhere. As a player, he appeared at four World Cups spanning three different continents, his Santos side traveled around the world like the Harlem Globetrotters and he even ventured into the backwoods of American soccer with the New York Cosmos. 

But he truly achieved an omnipresence after retiring and transitioning into life as the OG Cristiano Ronaldo, hawking goods and services like a door-to-door salesman while collecting honorary degrees for his contributions to the bicycle kick sciences.

Sometimes a miss can be just as beautiful as a goal. I once compiled a list of my favorite almost goals (which you can find here), but a lot of them include the football cracking off the post in a totally satisfactory way (large ping included) or Zinedine Zidane “Zidane Turning” his way beyond defenders before languidly spooning a shot into the heavens. 

Pelé is generally considered the greatest footballer of all time. The U.S. has been looking for its own version of Pelé ever since the Brazilian graced the NASL more than 40 years ago. 

It turns out, we’ve had our own Pelé all along, and he’s the most polarizing figure in the country.

Donald Trump has been given the nickname of Pelé by a select group of people who know more about his sporting abilities than perhaps anyone in the world.

The MLS season is quickly approaching. The buildup to the season has been full of interesting new kits and player signings.

The debate as to which footballer, at the height of their powers, reigned supreme will rage until the end of time. Pelé as a teenager? Diego Maradona at 26? O Fenômeno at 21? Take your pick and you’ll find more than enough evidence to support your claim.

But there’s never been anything like the consistent dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo into their 30s. Yesterday, Messi notched his 400th league goal for Barcelona, making him sole-member of the club for players that’ve reached that milestone for one club in Europe’s top five leagues.

You know when you’re a young child growing up and your teachers at school or church tell you everyone was created equally and should be respected as such? Well that’s BS when it comes to World Cup winners. 

FIFA has put on 21 World Cups dating back to 1930. In them we’ve had deserving World Cup winners like Brazil in 1970 and Spain in 2010 and some underdog World Cup winners like Uruguay in 1950 or West Germany in 1954.