Troublesome striker Diego Costa would have been considered nothing more than a petty criminal rather than a heinous villain during the 1950’s and 60’s claims Brazilian great Pele.
The Brazilian born Costa who has chosen to represent Spain at international level had seemed to get away with a string of debatable incidents during Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Arsenal at the weekend, but has since been retrospectively banned for three games.
This was the most recent incident in a string of clashes for the Chelsea striker that has seen him fall foul of the football authorities. Although Pele who was famously kicked and thumped out of the World Cup in 1966 by Bulgaria’s and then the Portuguese as the referee turned a blind eye to the abuse, declared Costa’s ‘crimes’ were nothing compared to the treatment he was exposed to.
The man who for many is the best player to ever grace a football pitch and even vowed to never play in another World Cup following ’66 said:
“Listen, this to me was so common,” a smiling Pele told AFP. “I suffered all my life with good marking. He’s a very good player, everybody knows.”
Where many would say Costa is the biggest antagoniser in football right now, Pele insisted it is in fact another South American striker who is the main culprit.
“This was one moment. The striker who bit someone, Luis Suarez, was worse than this.”
It is clear to see where the Brazilian is coming from here, Pele himself was subject to many robust tackles he simply had to get on with, and not helped by the nascent and incipient laws of the game that never gave players proper protection.
However is he being naïve to brush Costa’s actions under the carpet? After all he is serial offender who in the mire of the battle seems to come out the winner more often than not.
