Sometimes a single person really can change the world. Pelé not only captured the planet's heart with his Midas touch, he also made football the world’s top spectator sport, acting as the graceful ambassador for the beautiful game. The king also put Brazil on the map. As a nation mourns, we ask about the Black shoeshine boy from the favelas who made a point – like the recently departed Queen Elizabeth II – of staying out of his country’s politics, both through dictatorship and democracy.