“Last Thursday was the 40th anniversary of Pele’s 1,000th goal when he rolled a penalty past the Vasco da Gama keeper in his favourite stadium – the Maracana. Subsequent research has revealed that the milestone had probably been reached a few matches earlier and the achievement is open to question anyway, as the numbers were inflated with goals scored in army matches and so on. The point is, though, that Pele’s greatness as a footballer cannot be reduced to grim statistical accumulation. He is remembered not for scoring over 1,000 goals, but for shining so brightly for so long at the highest level of the game.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)