For Republic of Ireland legend Liam Brady, three-time World Cup winner Pele stands at the very top of the pantheon of football's greats.
The Brazil legend died aged 82 on Thursday, leading to an outpouring of tributes from across the sporting spectrum and beyond.
Brady joined RTÉ's Morning Ireland to reflect on Pele's legacy and share his first-hand memories of meeting a player regarded as football's first global superstar.
"He was the best player in my opinion. It's a generational thing I think when you're judging players," he said.
"In 1970 he was absolutely brilliant in the World Cup in Mexico and I think he stamped his mark then on being the greatest player ever to play."
Over subsequent generations, Pele had been joined by Argentinian duo Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi in the conversation about the sport's best ever and while Brady said it's a debate that may prove inconclusive, Pele's attributes truly marked him out.
"I was watching clips of him and the Netflix series just recently a few weeks ago and not only could he score incredible goals - he could score any kind of goal - but he could dribble, he could head the ball, he could shoot from distance," he said.
"But he was also very unselfish as well. If he had players in a better position than himself he would play them in.
"He was just out of this world and I suppose Maradona followed after him, another generation, and then we've had Messi win the World Cup. So it's a difficult argument about who was the greatest player ever. In my opinion, he was because I was lucky enough to see him."
Brady added that Pele's individual success also brought Brazil to the forefront by helping them to win their first three of a total of five World Cups.
"His football put Brazil on the map and they're going to have three days of mourning for him, it's quite incredible."
Brady, who made his Ireland senior debut aged 18 in 1974, met the Santos great on a couple of occasions during his own career.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
"I remember he came to one Irish training session (pictured above) in the mid-70s and what a thrill it was for all of us to meet him," he said.
"He came round and shook hands with everybody. He didn't have great English (at the time) so we couldn't really have a conversation with him. But we were just in awe of the fact that he was there.
"And then in 1987, myself and Paul McGrath were picked to play for the Football League against the Rest of the World for the Football League centenary, and Pele was the guest of honour and came around to shake our hands before the games. So it was very sad to hear the news (about his death). The king of football has passed."
