I know soccer ranges from fairly to very popular in those countries now, but from what I understand, that wasn’t the case in the 1950s and 60s when Pele was in his heyday. I know Santos was as good as anyone, but that doesn’t mean that some random guy in Cebu or Angola knew about them.

And Sachin Tendulkar is every bit as big in India as Pele is in Brazil. You’re underestimating the popularity of cricket, which is the second most popular sport in the world. But part of this is the distinction I made earlier between number of people who know about the athlete and the number of places in which the athlete is known.