Pelé

Playername	Pelé
Fullname	Edison Arantes do Nascimento
Youthyears1	1952–1956
Youthclubs1	Bauru
Years1	1956–1974
Years2	1975–1977
Years3	1976–1977
Clubs1	Santos
Clubs2	New York Cosmos
Caps1	1120
Goals1	1087
Totalcaps	1184
Totalgoals	1124
Nationalyears1	1957–1971
Nationalteam1	Brazil
Nationalcaps1	92
Nationalgoals1	77

Edison "Edson" Arantes do Nascimento In 1999, he was voted as the Football Player of the Century by the IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics. In the same year French weekly magazine France-Football consulted their former "Ballon D'Or" winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. Pelé came in first position. In his career he scored 760 official goals, 541 in league championships, making him the top scorer of all time. In total Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 games.

In his native Brazil, Pelé is hailed as a national hero. He is known for his accomplishments and contributions to the game of football. He is also acknowledged for his vocal support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor (when he scored his 1,000th goal he dedicated it to the poor children of Brazil). During his career, he became known as "The King of Football" (O Rei do Futebol), "The King Pelé" (O Rei Pelé) or simply "The King" (O Rei).

Spotted by football star Waldemar de Brito, Pelé began playing for Santos at 15 and his national team at 16, and won his first World Cup at 17. Despite numerous offers from European clubs, the economic conditions and Brazilian football regulations at the time benefited Santos, thus enabling them to keep Pelé for almost two decades until 1974. With Pelé within their ranks, Santos reach their zenith by winning the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores, the most prestigious club competition in South American football. Pelé played as an inside second forward, also known as a playmaker. Pelé's technique and natural athleticism have been universally praised and during his playing years he was renowned for his excellent dribbling and passing, his pace, powerful shot, exceptional heading ability, and prolific goalscoring.

He is the all-time leading scorer of the Brazil national football team and is the only footballer to be a part of three World Cup-winning squads. In 1962 he was on the Brazilian squad at the start of the World Cup but because of an injury suffered in the second match, he was not able to play the remainder of the tournament. In November 2007 FIFA announced that he would be awarded the 1962 medal retroactively, making him the only player in the world to have three World Cup winning medals.

Since his retirement in 1977, Pelé has been a worldwide ambassador for football and has undertaken various acting roles and commercial ventures. He is currently the Honorary President of the New York Cosmos.

Early years

Pelé was born in Três Corações, Brazil, the son of a Fluminense footballer Dondinho (born João Ramos do Nascimento) and Dona Celeste Arantes. He was named after the American inventor Thomas Edison, however his parents decided to remove the 'i' and call him 'Edson', but there was a mistake on the birth certificate, leading many documents to show his name as 'Edison', not 'Edson', as he is actually called. He was originally nicknamed Dico by his family. He did not receive the nickname "Pelé" until his school days, when it is claimed he was given it because of his pronunciation of the name of his favorite player, local Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Bilé, which he misspoke but the more he complained the more it stuck. In his autobiography, Pelé stated he had no idea what the name means, nor did his old friends.

Pelé grew up in poverty in Bauru, São Paulo. He earned extra money by working in tea shops as a servant. Taught to play by his coach, he could not afford a proper football and usually played with either a sock stuffed with newspaper, tied with a string

At the age of fifteen, he joined the Santos FC junior team. He played for one season before joining the senior team.

Club career

Santos

In 1956, de Brito took Pelé to Santos, an industrial and port city in the state of São Paulo, to try out for professional club Santos Futebol Clube telling the directors at Santos that the 15-year-old would be "the greatest football player in the world."

During his time at Santos, Pelé played alongside many gifted players, including Zito, Pepe, and Coutinho; the latter partnered him in numerous one-two plays, attacks, and goals.

Pelé made his debut for Santos in 7 September 1956, scoring one goal in a 7–1 friendly victory over Corinthians. When the 1957 season started, Pelé was given a starting place in the first team and, at the age of just 16, became the top scorer in the league. Just ten months after signing professionally, the teenager was called up to the Brazil national team. After the World Cup in 1962, wealthy European clubs such as Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United tried to sign the young player, but the government of Brazil declared Pelé an "official national treasure" to prevent him from being transferred out of the country. Copa Libertadores trophy.]] Pelé won his first major title with Santos in 1958 as the team won the Campeonato Paulista; Pelé would finish the tournament as top scorer with an incredible 58 goals, a record that stands today. A year later, O Rei would help the team earn their first victory in the Torneio Rio-São Paulo with a 3-0 over Vasco da Gama. However, Santos was unable to retain the Paulista title. In 1960, Pelé scored 33 goals to help his team regain the Campeonato Paulista trophy but lost out on the Rio-São Paulo tournament after finishing in a disappointing 8th place. Another 47 goals from Pelé saw Santos retain the Campeonato Paulista. The club went on to win the Taça Brasil that same year, crushing Bahia in the finals; Pelé finished as top scorer of the tournament with 9 goals. The victory allowed Santos to participate in the Copa Libertadores, the most prestigious club tournament in the Western hemisphere.

Santos' most successful club season started in 1962;

Pelé’s electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals made him a star around the world. His team Santos toured internationally in order to take full advantage of his popularity. In 1967, the two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch Pelé play an exhibition game in Lagos.

New York Cosmos

After the 1972 season (his 17th with Santos), Pelé retired from Brazilian club football although he continued to occasionally suit up for Santos in official competitive matches. Two years later, he came out of semi-retirement to sign with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1975 season. Though well past his prime at this point, Pelé is credited with significantly increasing public awareness and interest in soccer in the United States. He led the Cosmos to the 1977 NASL championship, in his third and final season with the club.

On 1 October 1977, Pelé closed out his legendary career in an exhibition match between the Cosmos and Santos. Santos arrived in New York and New Jersey after previously defeating the Seattle Sounders 2–0. The match was played in front of a capacity crowd at Giants Stadium and was televised in the United States on ABC's Wide World of Sports as well as throughout the world. Pelé's father and wife both attended the match. Pelé gave a brief pre-match speech during which he asked the crowd to say the word "love" with him three times. He played the first half for the Cosmos and the second half for Santos. Reynaldo scored the first goal for Santos, kicking the ball into the net after it had deflected off the crossbar. Pelé then scored his final goal on a direct free kick, driving the ball past the diving Santos goalkeeper. At halftime, the Cosmos retired Pelé's number 10. Pelé presented his Cosmos shirt to his father, who was escorted to the field by Cosmos captain Werner Roth. During the second half, Cosmos striker Ramon Mifflin, who had replaced Pelé when he switched sides at halftime, scored on a deflected cross, and the Cosmos won the match 2–1. After the match, Pelé was embraced by the Cosmos players, including longtime rival Giorgio Chinaglia, and then ran around the field while holding an American flag in his left hand and a Brazilian flag in his right hand. Pelé was soon lifted by several Cosmos players and carried around the field.

National team career

at 1959 Copa America]] Pelé's first international match was a 2–1 defeat against Argentina on 7 July 1957. In that match, he scored his first goal for Brazil aged 16 years and 9 months to become the youngest player to score in International football.

1958 World Cup

, after Brazil win the 1958 Cup.]] His first match in the World Cup was against the USSR in the first round of the 1958 FIFA World Cup, on the third game of the Cup, alongside Garrincha, Zito and Vavá. He was the youngest player of that tournament, and at the time the youngest ever to play in the World Cup. He scored his first World Cup goal against Wales in quarterfinals, the only goal of the match, to help Brazil advance to semifinals, while becoming the youngest ever World Cup goalscorer at 17 years and 239 days. Against France in the semifinal, Brazil was leading 2–1 at halftime, and then Pelé scored a hat-trick, becoming the youngest in World Cup history to do so.

On 19 June 1958 Pelé became the youngest player to play in a World Cup final match at 17 years and 249 days. He scored two goals in the final as Brazil beat Sweden 5–2. His first goal, a lob over a defender followed by a precise volley shot, was selected as one of the best goals in the history of the World Cup. When the match ended, he passed out on the field, and had to be attended by the medical staff. The press of the time cataloged Pelé as the greatest revelation of the 1958 Cup.

1962 World Cup

during the 1958 World Cup final.]] In the first match of the 1962 World Cup, against Mexico, Pelé assisted the first goal and then scored the second one, after a run past four defenders, to go up 2–0. He injured himself while attempting a long-range shot against Czechoslovakia. In that game João Morais brutally fouled Pelé, but was allowed to stay on field by referee George McCabe. Pelé had to stay in the field limping for the rest of the game, since substitutes were not allowed at that time. After this game he vowed he would not play again in the World Cup, a decision he would later change.

1970 World Cup

Pelé was called to the national team in early 1969, he refused at first, but then accepted and played in six World Cup qualifying matches, scoring six goals. The 1970 World Cup in Mexico was to be Pelé's last. Brazil's squad for the tournament featured major changes in relation to the 1966 squad. Players like Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Valdir Pereira, Djalma Santos, and Gilmar had already retired, but the team, with Pelé, Rivelino, Jairzinho, Gérson, Carlos Alberto Torres, Tostão, and Clodoaldo, is widely considered as one of the greatest ever football teams.

In the first match, against Czechoslovakia, Pelé gave Brazil a 2–1 lead, by controlling Gerson's long pass with his chest and then scoring. In this match Pelé audaciously attempted to lob goalkeeper Ivo Viktor from the half-way line, only narrowly missing the Czechoslovak goal. Brazil went on to win the match, 4–1. In the first half of the match against England, he nearly scored with a header that was spectacularly saved by Gordon Banks. In the second half, he assisted Jairzinho for the only goal of the match. Against Romania, he opened the score on a direct free kick goal, a strong strike with the outside of his right foot. Later on in the match he scored again to take the score to 3–1. Brazil won by a final score of 3–2. In the quarterfinals against Peru, Brazil won 4–2, with Pelé assisting Tostão on for Brazil's third goal. In the semi-finals, Brazil faced Uruguay for the first time since the 1950 World Cup final round match. Jairzinho put Brazil ahead 2–1, and Pelé assisted Rivelino for the 3–1. During that match, Pelé made one of his most famous plays. Tostão gave Pelé a through ball, and Uruguay's goalkeeper Ladislao Mazurkiewicz took notice of it. The keeper ran off of his line to get the ball before Pelé, but Pelé got there first, and without touching the ball, he caused it to go past the keeper, to the latter's left, while Pelé went right. Pelé went around the goalkeeper and took a shot while turning towards the goal, but he turned in excess as he shot, and the ball drifted just wide of the far post.

Brazil played Italy in the final, with Pelé scoring the opener, with a header over Italian defender Tarcisio Burgnich. He then made assists on Jairzinho's and Carlos Alberto's goals, the latter one coming after an impressive collective play. Brazil won the match 4–1, keeping the Jules Rimet Trophy indefinitely. Burgnich, who marked Pelé during the match, was quoted saying "I told myself before the game, he's made of skin and bones just like everyone else — but I was wrong".

Pelé's last international match was on 18 July 1971 against Yugoslavia in Rio de Janeiro. With Pelé on the field, the Brazilian team's record was 67 wins, 14 draws, and 11 losses, and they won three World Cups. Brazil never lost a match while fielding both Pelé and Garrincha. The only international match Garrincha lost was against Hungary in 1966, 1–3, which Pelé did not play in because of injury.

South American Championship

Pelé also played in the South American Championship. In the 1959 competition he was top scorer with eight goals, as Brazil came second in the tournament.

Family

On 21 February 1966, Pelé married Rosemeri dos Reis Cholby. He has two daughters Kelly Cristina (13 January 1967) and Jennifer (1978) as well as a son Edson ("Edinho" – little Edson, 27 August 1970). The couple divorced in 1978.

Since April 1994 Pelé has been married to psychologist and gospel singer Assíria Lemos Seixas, who gave birth on 28 September 1996 to twins Joshua and Celeste through fertility treatments.

After football

and Pelé in commemoration for 50 years since the first World Cup title won by Brazil in 1958, at the Palácio do Planalto, 2008.]] Prime Licensing, the company created and owned by the long time friend and fashion businessman Jose Alves de Araujo, now manages the Pele brand including contracts with Puma AG, Pelestation, QVC, Fremantle Media, Pele L'uomo and Pele Arena coffee houses, amongst others.

The most notable area of Pelé's life since football is his ambassadorial work for various bodies. In 1992, Pelé was appointed a United Nations ambassador for ecology and the environment.

He was awarded Brazil's Gold Medal for outstanding services to the sport in 1995, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso appointed him to the position of "Extraordinary Minister for Sport" and he was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. During this time he proposed legislation to reduce corruption in Brazilian football, which became known as the Pelé law. Pelé left his position in 2001 after he was accused of involvement in a corruption scandal, although nothing has been proved so far. In 1997 he was created an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Pelé scouted for Premier League club Fulham in 2002. He was chosen to do the draw for the qualification groups for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals.

Pelé has published several autobiographies, starred in documentary and semi-documentary films and composed various musical pieces, including the entire soundtrack for the film Pelé in 1977. He appeared, alongside other footballers of the 1960s and 1970s, with Michael Caine, and Sylvester Stallone, in the 1981 film Escape to Victory, about an attempted escape from a World War II German POW Camp. during 2010 World Cup, June 10th, 2010.]] Pelé signed a major autobiographical book deal in 2006, resulting in a giant-sized, 45 cm × 35 cm, 2,500 unit limited-edition collectible "Pelé", created by UK luxury publishers, Gloria, as the first-ever football "big book". In the same period, Pelé received a lifetime achievement award from the BBC and in June 2006, helped inaugurate the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, alongside supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Pelé has also helped to promote viagra and raise the awareness of impotency.

Pelé was guest of honour at the world's oldest football club, Sheffield's 150th anniversary match v Inter Milan in November 2007. Inter won 5–2 in front of an appreciative crowd of nearly 19,000 at Bramall Lane. As part of his visit, Pelé opened an exhibition which included the first public showing in 40 years of the original hand written rules of football.

In 2009, he cooperated with Ubisoft on arcade football game for the Wii and also appeared in the game as a coach to its players.

On August 1, 2010, Pelé was introduced as the Honorary President of a revived New York Cosmos (2010), aiming to field a team in Major League Soccer. Taça Brasil: 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965

Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa: 1968

Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1959, 1963, 1964, 1966

Intercontinental Cup: 1962, 1963

Recopa Intercontinental: 1968

Friendly Club tournaments

Teresa Herrera Trophy: 1959

Tournament of Valencia: 1959

Dr. Mario Echandi Trophy: 1959

Pentagonal Tournament of Mexico: 1959

Gialorosso Trophy: 1960 Tournament of Paris: 1960, 1961

Tournament of Italy: 1961

Tournament of Costa Rica: 1961

Tournament of Caracas: 1965

Quadrangular Tournament of Buenos Aires: 1965

Hexagonal Tournament of Chile: 1965, 1970

Tournament of New York: 1966

Amazonia Tournament: 1968

Quadrangular Tournament of Rome/Florence: 1968

Pentagonal Tournament of Buenos Aires: 1968

Octagonal Tournament of Chile (Taça Nicolau Moran): 1968

Tournament of Cuiabá: 1969

Tournament of Kingstone: 1971

New York Cosmos

North American Soccer League: 1977

Brazil

Roca Cup: 1957, 1963

FIFA World Cup: 1958, 1962, 1970

The tally of 32 official team trophies makes him the player with most career titles

Individual

:

Santos

* Copa Libertadores top scorer (1): 1965.

* Campeonato Paulista top scorer (11): 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1973.

Brazil

Copa América top scorer (1): 1959.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality:

* Winner (1): 1970

FIFA World Cup (Best Young Player):

Winner (1): 1958

FIFA World Cup (Silver Boot): 1958

Inducted into the American National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1993.

Knight Commander of the British Empire: 1997

In 1989 DPR Korea issued a postage stamp depicting Pelé.

Athlete of the Century, by Reuters News Agency: 1999

Athlete of the Century, elected by International Olympic Committee: 1999

UNICEF Football Player of the Century: 1999

Time Magazine ''One of the : 1999

FIFA Player of the Century : 2000 (view : http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/players/player=63869/bio.html )

Football Player of the Century, elected by France Football's Golden Ball Winners : 1999

Football Player of the Century, by IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics: 1999

South America Football Player of the Century, by IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics: 1999

Laureus World Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement Award from South African President Nelson Mandela: 2000

In December 2000, Pelé and Maradona shared the prize of FIFA Player of the Century by FIFA. The award was originally intended to be based upon votes in a web poll, but after it became apparent that it favoured Diego Maradona, many observers complained that the Internet nature of the poll would have meant a skewed demographic of younger fans who would have seen Maradona play, but not Pelé. FIFA then appointed a "Family of Football" committee of FIFA members to decide the winner of the award. The committee chose Pelé. Since Maradona was winning the Internet poll, however, it was decided he and Pelé should share the award.

International Olympic Committee "Athlete of the Century"

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award:

* Winner (1): 2005

A consensus of media and expert polls rank Pelé as the greatest footballer of all time.

Career statistics

Goalscoring and appearance record

-Brazil 1-7 in May, 1960. Pelé scored 2 goals.]] Pelé's goalscoring record is often reported as being 1280 goals in 1363 games. This figure includes goals scored by Pelé in non-competitive club matches, for example, international tours Pelé completed with Santos and the New York Cosmos, and a few games Pelé played in for armed forces teams during his national service in Brazil.

The tables below record every goal Pelé scored in major club competitions for Santos and the New York Cosmos. During much of Pelé's playing career in Brazil there was no national league championship. From 1960 onwards the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) were required to provide meritocratic entrants for the then-new Copa Libertadores, a South American international club competition broadly equivalent to the European Cup. To enable them to do this, the CBF organised two national competitions: the Taça de Prata and Taça Brasil. A national league championship, the Campeonato Brasileiro, was first played in 1971, alongside traditional state and interstate competitions such as the Campeonato Paulista and the Torneio Rio-São Paulo.

The number of league goals scored by Pelé is listed as 589 in 605 games. This number is the sum of the goals scored by Pelé in domestic league-based competitions: the Campeonato Paulista (SPS), Torneio Rio-São Paulo (RSPS), Taça de Prata and Campeonato Brasileiro. The Taça Brasil was a national competition organised on a knockout basis.

A dark grey cell in the table indicates that the relevant competition did not take place that year.

* indicates this number was inferred from a Santos fixture list from rsssf.com and this list of games Pelé played.

World Cup goals

Acting and film career

Os Estranhos (1969) (TV series)

O Barão Otelo no Barato dos Bilhões (1971)

A Marcha (1973)

Os Trombadinhas (1978)

Escape to Victory (1981)

A Minor Miracle (1983)

Pedro Mico (1985)

Os Trapalhões e o Rei do Futebol (1986)

Hotshot (1987)

Solidão, Uma Linda História de Amor (1990)

Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001)

ESPN SportsCentury (2004)

Pelé Eterno (2004) - a documentary about Pelé's career

Cultural references

In 1989 DPR Korea issued a postage stamp depicting Pelé.

Mentioned in the song "Ghetto Supastar" by Pras.

Professional Wrestler AJ Styles named his backflip head-kick "The Pele".

In the film Kicking & Screaming, Phil, played by Will Ferrell, competes against his father in order to win his dad's Pele ball.

See also

Lists of association football players

Mononymous person

The Beautiful Game

References

External links

National Soccer Hall of Fame - Pelé

Pelé: A Legend Looks Back - slideshow by Life magazine

List of Goals for Brazil

Play Soccer with Pele

International Football Hall of Fame

Planet World Cup

Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:People from Minas Gerais Category:1958 FIFA World Cup players Category:1962 FIFA World Cup players Category:1966 FIFA World Cup players Category:1970 FIFA World Cup players Category:Brazil international footballers Category:Brazilian expatriate footballers Category:Brazilian expatriates in the United States Category:Brazilian footballers Category:Association football forwards Category:Brazilian people of Black African descent Category:Expatriate soccer players in the United States Category:FIFA 100 Category:FIFA World Cup-winning players Category:Football players and officials awarded knighthoods Category:Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Laureus World Sports Awards winners Category:National Soccer Hall of Fame members Category:National Treasures Category:New York Cosmos players Category:North American Soccer League players Category:Santos Futebol Clube players Category:South American Footballer of the Year winners