The Golden Ball was created by “Revista France Football” in 1956 to elect the best player in the world. At the time when Pelé played, France Football had as a rule only reward Europeans who played in Europe, that is, Pelé was never able to compete for the trophy. The rule extended until 1995, when the award allowed any athlete who played in Europe to compete for the award. In 2007, the magazine opened the award to the world, and players of any nationality, acting in any country, could compete.
In 2014, the Athlete of the 20th Century was invited to the award ceremony for the best player in the world, and had a pleasant surprise. During the awards, he was presented with seven Ballon d’Or trophies. France Football revised the entire list using the current rules and decided to grant Pelé a fair historical correction. In the review, the Brazilian would have won in 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965 and 1970.
At the time, in those years, the following athletes had won the award: 1958 (Kopa), 1959 (Di Stéfano), 1960 (Luís Suárez), 1961 (Omar Sívori), 1963 (Lev Iashin), 1965 (Eusébio) and 1970 (Gerd Müller).
With the historical review, Pelé became the biggest winner of the coveted award. In 2019, the Argentine Lionel Messi achieved his sixth conquest. The Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo has five “Ballon d’Or” trophies, as it is originally written.
During the tribute, the King made the following statement: “I promised my family that I would not cry, but I am emotional. I wanted to thank God for giving me health to play for so many years. I didn’t play alone, all I won was with my friends, people remember the players, but let’s not forget the people who prepare the football boots, physiotherapists, masseurs. I want to share this trophy with them”.
