Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	Pelé
fullname	Edison Arantes do Nascimento
birth date	21 or October 23, 1940
height
birth place	Três Corações, Brazil
position	Forward
youthyears1	1952–1956
youthclubs1	Bauru
years1	1956–1974
years2	1975–1977
clubs1	Santos
clubs2	New York Cosmos
caps1	605
goals1	589
caps2	64
goals2	37
totalcaps	669
totalgoals	626
nationalyears1	1957–1971
nationalteam1	Brazil
nationalcaps1	92
nationalgoals1	77 }}

Edison "Edson" Arantes do Nascimento KBE (born 21 or 23 October 1940), best known by his nickname Pelé (Brazilian , usual ) is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. 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 1999 the International Olympic Committee named Pelé the "Athlete of the Century". 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, Minas Gerais, Brazil, the son of 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. Apart from the assertion that the name is derived from that of Bilé, and that it is Hebrew for miracle, the word has no known meaning in Portuguese.

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 or a grapefruit. In 1954, aged fourteen, he joined Bauru Athletic Club juniors in Bauru, São Paulo.

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."

Aged 15, 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. 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; the team was seeded in Group 1 alongside Cerro Porteño and Deportivo Municipal, winning every match of their group but one (a 1–1 away tie vs Cerro), with Pelé scoring his first goal in a brace against Cerro. Santos defeated Universidad Católica in the semifinals and met defending champions Peñarol in the finals in which Pelé scored another brace in the playoff match to secure the first title for a Brazilian club. Pelé finished as the second best scorer of the competition with 4 goals. That same year, Santos would defend, with success, the Campeonato Brasiliero (with 37 goals from Pelé), the Taça Brasil (Pelé scoring four goals in the final series against Botafogo), and win the 1962 Intercontinental Cup against Benfica. Wearing his iconic number 10 shirt, Pelé produced one of his best ever performances and scored a hat-trick in Lisbon, as Santos beat the European champions 5–2.

As the defending champions, Santos qualified automatically to the semifinal stage of the 1963 Copa Libertadores. The ''ballet blanco'' managed to retain the title in spectacular fashion after impressive victories over Botafogo and Boca Juniors. Pelé helped Santos overcome a Botafogo team that contained legends such as Garrincha and Jairzinho with an agonizing last-minute goal in the first leg of the semifinals and bring the match to 1–1. In the second leg, Pelé produced one of his best performances as a footballer with a hat-trick in the Estádio do Maracanã as Santos crushed Botafogo 0–4 in the second leg. Appearing in their second consecutive final, Santos started the series by winning 3–2 in the first leg and defeating the Boca Juniors of José Sanfilippo and Antonio Rattín 1–2 in ''La Bombonera'', with another goal from Pelé, becoming the first (and so far only) Brazilian team to lift the Copa Libertadores in Argentine soil. Pelé finished the tournament as the topscorer runner-up with 5 goals. Santos lost the Campeonato Paulista after finishing in third place but went on to win the Rio-São Paulo tournament after an impressive 0–3 win over Flamengo in the final, with Pelé providing one goal in the match. Pelé would also help Santos retain the Intercontinental Cup and the Taça Brasil.

Santos tried to defend their title again in 1964 but they were thoroughly beaten in both legs of the semifinals by Independiente. Santos won again the Campeonato Paulista, with Pelé netting 34 goals. The club also shared the Rio-São Paulo title with Botafogo and win the Taça Brasil for the fourth consecutive year. The ''Santistas'' would try to resurge in 1965 by winning, for the 9th time, the Campeonato Paulista and the Taça Brasil. In the 1965 Copa Libertadores, Santos started convincingly by winning every match of their group in the first round. In the semifinals, Santos met Peñarol in a rematch of the 1962 final. After two legendary matches, a playoff was needed to break the tie. Unlike 1962, Peñarol came out on top and eliminated Santos 2–1. Pelé would, however, finish as the topscorer of the tournament with eight goals. This proved to be the start of a decline as Santos failed to retain the Torneio Rio-São Paulo.

In 1966, Pelé and Santos also failed to retain the Taça Brasil as ''O Rei'''s goals weren't enough to prevent a 9–4 routing by Cruzeiro (led by Tostão) in the final series. Although Santos won the Campeonato Paulista in 1967, 1968 and 1969, Pelé became less and less a contributing factor to the ''Santistas'' now-limited success. On 19 November 1969, Pelé scored his 1000th goal in all competitions. This was a highly anticipated moment in Brazil. The goal, called popularly ''O Milésimo'' (The Thousandth), occurred in a match against Vasco da Gama, when Pelé scored from a penalty kick, at the Maracanã Stadium. Pelé states that his most beautiful goal was scored at Rua Javari stadium on a Campeonato Paulista match against São Paulo rival Juventus on 2 August 1959. As there is no video footage of this match, Pelé asked that a computer animation be made of this specific goal. In March 1961, Pelé scored the ''gol de placa'' (goal worthy of a plaque), against Fluminense at the Maracanã. Pelé received the ball on the edge of his own penalty area, and ran the length of the field, eluding opposition players, and fired the ball beyond the goalkeeper. The goal was regarded as being so spectacular that a plaque was commissioned with a dedication to ''the most beautiful goal in the history of the Maracanã''.

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. 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.

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, as well as a number of his friends in sport such as Muhammad Ali and Bobby Moore. 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. Pelé 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.

In 1977, Cosmos came to India to play an exhibition match with Mohun Bagan Atheletic Club , the National Club of India. The match was held in Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India. The match ended in 2-2 draw and Pele scored one goal for Cosmos.

National team career

Pelé's first international match was a 2–1 defeat against Argentina on 7 July 1957 at the Maracanã. 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

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. Following Pelé's second goal, Swedish player Sigvard Parling would later comment; "When Pelé scored the fifth goal in that Final, I have to be honest and say I felt like applauding". When the match ended, Pelé passed out on the field, and had to be attended by the medical staff. He then recovered, and was visibly compelled by the victory; in tears as he was being congratulated by his teammates. He finished the tournament with six goals in four matches played, tied for second place, behind record-breaker Just Fontaine, and was named young player of the tournament.

It was in the 1958 World Cup that Pelé began using a number 10 t-shirt that immortalized him. Recently it is known that the event was the result of disorganization: the leaders didn't send the shirt numbers of players and it was up to FIFA to choose the number 10 shirt to Pele, who was a substitute on the occasion. The press of the time cataloged Pelé as the greatest revelation of the 1958 Cup.

1962 World Cup

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. This would keep him out of the rest of the tournament, and forced coach Aymoré Moreira to make his only lineup change of the tournament. The substitute was Amarildo, who performed well for the rest of the tournament. However, it was Garrincha who would take the leading role and carry Brazil to their second World Cup title.

1966 World Cup

The 1966 World Cup was marked, among other things, for the brutal fouling on Pelé, by the Bulgarian and Portuguese defenders. By this stage Pelé was the most famous footballer in the world, and the expectation was that Brazil, at the very least, would reach the final. Brazil was eliminated in the first round, playing only three matches. Pelé scored the first goal from a free kick against Bulgaria, becoming the first player to score in three successive FIFA World Cups, but due to his injury, a result of persistent fouling by the Bulgarians, he missed the second game against Hungary. Brazil lost that game and Pelé, although still recovering, was brought back for the last crucial match against Portugal. In that game João Morais brutally fouled Pelé, but was not sent off by referee George McCabe, of whom it is acknowledged let "the Portuguese get away with murder". Pelé had to stay on 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 often considered to be the greatest football team in history. 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, Pelé 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, Pelé 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 fooled the keeper by not touching the ball, causing it to roll to the keeper'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, and Pelé was named player of the tournament. Burgnich, who marked Pelé during the final, 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, with Pelé being the only player in history to have three winners medals. 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.

Personal life

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. From 1981 to 1986, Pelé had been romantically linked with Xuxa and was seen influential in launching the career of the model who was 17 when they started to date. In April 1994 Pelé married psychologist and gospel singer Assíria Lemos Seixas, who gave birth on 28 September 1996 to twins Joshua and Celeste through fertility treatments. They are now separated.

After football

'After football Prime Brands, a Brazilian Licensing Company created in 2006, directed by CEO José Kanner, now manages the Pelé brand including contracts with IMG Licensing who acts on behalf of Prime for international licensing, working with partners such as Pelé Sports, Kotobukiya and the Art of Pelé 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 UN 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 was proven, and it was also denied by UNICEF. In 1997, Pelé received an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth II, at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace.

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. 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 also produced an international ad campaign for drug company Pfizer to promote Viagra and raise world awareness of erectile dysfunction.

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 Academy of Champions: Soccer for the Wii and also appeared in the game as a coach to its players.

On 1 August 2010, Pelé was introduced as the Honorary President of a revived New York Cosmos (2010), aiming to field a team in Major League Soccer.

On 3 august 2011, it was reported that Santos were considering bring him out of retirement for a cameo role in the 2011 Club World Cup.

Honours

Club

Santos

Copa Libertadores: 1962, 1963

Campeonato Paulista: 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973 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

New York Cosmos

North American Soccer League, Soccer Bowl: 1977

Country

Brazil

Roca Cup: 1957, 1963

FIFA World Cup: 1958, 1962, 1970

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

FIFA World Cup Silver Ball: 1958

FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (Best Player):

* Winner (1): 1970

''Athlete of the Century'', elected by world wide journalists, poll by French daily ''L'Equipe'': 1981

South American Footballer of the Year: 1973

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 ''One of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century'': 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.

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

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.

0* 19+17* 58 45 33 47 37 22 34 49 13 17 17 26 7 8 9 11 1

Club	Season	Domestic League Competitions	Domestic LeagueSub-total		Domestic Cup	International Club Competitions	OfficialTotal		Total inc.Friendlies
!colspan="2"	!colspan="2"	!colspan="2"		!colspan="2"	!colspan="2"	Copa Libertadores		!colspan="2"
!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
rowspan="20" style="vertical-align:top;"	Santos	1956	0*	|							0*	0*							0*	0*	2*	2*
1957	14+15*	|	9	5					38*	41*							38*	41*	67*	57*
1958	38	|	8	8					46	66							46*	66*	60*	80*
1959	32	|	7	6					39	51	4*	2*					43*	53*	83*	100*
1960	30	|	3	0					33	33	0	0	0	0	0	0	33*	33*	67*	59*
1961	26	|	7	8					33	55	5*	7	0	0	0	0	38*	62*	74*	110*
1962	26	|	0	0					26	37	5*	2*	4*	4*	2	5	37*	48*	50*	62*
1963	19	|	8	14					27	36	4*	8	4*	5*	1	2	36	51*	52*	67*
1964	21	|	4	3					25	37	6*	7	0*	0*	0	0	31*	44*	47*	57*
1965	30	|	7	5					37	54	4*	2*	7*	8	0	0	48*	64*	66*	97*
1966	14	|	0*	0*					14*	13*	5*	2*	0	0	0	0	19*	15*	38*	31*
1967	18	|			14*	9*			32*	26*	0	0	0	0	0	0	32*	26*	65*	56*
1968	21	|			17*	11*			38*	28*	0	0	0	0	0	0	38*	28*	73*	55*
1969	25	|			12*	12*			37*	38*			0	0	0	0	37*	38*	61*	57*
1970	15	|			13*	4*			28*	11*			0	0	0	0	28*	11*	54*	47*
1971	19	|					21	1	40	9			0	0	0	0	40	9	72*	29*
1972	20	|					16	5	36	14			0	0	0	0	36	14	74*	50*
1973	19	|					30	19	49	30			0	0	0	0	49	30	66*	52*
1974	10	|					17	9	27	10			0	0	0	0	27	10	49*	19*
!All	!412!!470!!53!!49!!56*!!36*!!84!!34!!605*!!589*!!33!!30!!15!!17 !!3!!7!!656!!643!!1120!!1087

''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.''

5 15 17

Club	Season	!colspan="2"	Other	Total
!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
rowspan="4" style="vertical-align:top;"	NY Cosmos	1975	9	|	14*	10*	23*	15*
1976	24	|	18*	11*	42*	26*
1977	31	|	11*	6*	42*	23*
!All	!64!!37!!43*!!27*!!107*!!64*

|- |1957||2||2 |- |1958||7||9 |- |1959||9||11 |- |1960||6||4 |- |1961||0||0 |- |1962||8||8 |- |1963||7||7 |- |1964||3||2 |- |1965||8||9 |- |1966||9||5 |- |1967||0||0 |- |1968||7||4 |- |1969||9||7 |- |1970||15||8 |- |1971||2||1 |- !Total||92||77 |}

World Cup goals

Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden 24 June 1958 24 June 1958 24 June 1958 29 June 1958 29 June 1958 30 May 1962 12 July 1966 3 June 1970 10 June 1970 10 June 1970 21 June 1970

# !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! World Cup !! Round
1.	19 June 1958	|		1 – 0	1–0	1958 FIFA World Cup>1958	1958 FIFA World Cup#Quarter finals>Quarter-Final
2.	|	Rasunda Stadium, Solna Municipality>Solna, Sweden		1 – 3	2–5	1958 FIFA World Cup>1958	1958 FIFA World Cup#Semi finals>Semi-Final
3.	|	Rasunda Stadium, Solna Municipality>Solna, Sweden		1 – 4	2–5	1958 FIFA World Cup>1958	1958 FIFA World Cup#Semi finals>Semi-Final
4.	|	Rasunda Stadium, Solna Municipality>Solna, Sweden		1 – 5	2–5	1958 FIFA World Cup>1958	1958 FIFA World Cup#Semi finals>Semi-Final
5.	|	Rasunda Stadium, Solna Municipality>Solna, Sweden		1 – 3	2–5	1958 FIFA World Cup>1958	1958 FIFA World Cup Final>Final
6.	|	Rasunda Stadium, Solna Municipality>Solna, Sweden		2 – 5	2–5	1958 FIFA World Cup>1958	1958 FIFA World Cup Final>Final
7.	|	Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar, Chile		2 – 0	2–0	1962 FIFA World Cup>1962	1962 FIFA World Cup#Group 3>Group Stage
8.	|	Goodison Park, Liverpool, England		1 – 0	2–0	1966 FIFA World Cup>1966	1966 FIFA World Cup#Group 3>Group Stage
9.	|	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Jalisco>Guadalajara, Mexico		2 – 1	4–1	1970 FIFA World Cup>1970	1970 FIFA World Cup#Group 3>Group Stage
10.	|	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Jalisco>Guadalajara, Mexico		1 – 0	3–2	1970 FIFA World Cup>1970	1970 FIFA World Cup#Group 3>Group Stage
11.	|	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Jalisco>Guadalajara, Mexico		3 – 1	3–2	1970 FIFA World Cup>1970	1970 FIFA World Cup#Group 3>Group Stage
12.	|	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico		1 – 0	4–1	1970 FIFA World Cup>1970	1970 FIFA World Cup Final>Final

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

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This is a list of people whose names in English are commonly appended with the phrase "''the Great''", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as ''e Bozorg'' and ''e azam'' in Persian and Urdu respectively.

In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.

The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus) assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "''the Great''".

The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).

Later rulers and commanders began to use the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.

As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of later generations in using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "The Great" in his lifetime but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "The Great". A later Hohenzollern - Wilhelm I - was often called "The Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.

Rulers

Abbas I of Persia (1571-1629), Shah of Iran

Akbar (1542-1605), ruler of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, mainly India

Alain I of Albret (1440-1522), French aristocrat

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and all of Mesopotamia

Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446), King of Georgia

Alfonso III of León (c. 848-910), King of León, Galicia and Asturias

Alfred the Great (848/849-899), King of Wessex

Antiochus III the Great (c. 241–187 BC), ruler of the Seleucid Empire

Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BC), Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty

Ashot I of Iberia “the Great”(died 826/830), presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia),

Askia Mohammad I (c. 1442–1538), ruler of the Songhai Empire

Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927), King of Thailand

Bolesław I Chrobry (967-1025), sometimes called "the Great", first King of Poland

Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the following section)

Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1736-1809), founder and ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (in what is now Thailand)

Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995-1035), King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden

Casimir III the Great (1310-1370), King of Poland

Catherine the Great (1729-1796), Empress of Russian

Chandragupta II (reigned 375-413/415), also known as Vikramaditya, ruler of the Gupta empire in India

Charlemagne (died 814), King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans

Chulalongkorn (1853-1910), King of Siam (now Thailand)

Chlothar II (584-629), King of Neustria and King of the Franks

Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097-1157), Margrave of Meissen

Constantine I (c. 272-337), Roman Emperor

Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), founder and ruler of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire

Darius the Great (550 – 486 BC), third ruler of the Persian Empire

Devapala (died 850), ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent

Dionysius I, Greek tyrant of Syracuse

Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065), King of León and Count of Castile

Frederick the Great (1712-1786), King of Prussia

Genghis Khan (1162?-1227), founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire

Gero (c. 900–965), ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594-1632), King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader

Gwanggaeto the Great, King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea

Hanno the Great, the name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC

Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002)

Henry IV of France (1553-1610), King of France and King of Navarre

Herod the Great (73/74 BC-4 BC), King of Judea

Hugh the Great (898-956), Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris

Hugh Magnus of France (1007-1025), co-King of France

Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057-1101)

Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123), Anglo-Norman aristocrat

Ivan III of Russia (1440-1505), Tsar of Russia

John I of Portugal (1358-1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve

John II of Aragon (1398-1479), King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre

Justinian I (483-565), Byzantine Emperor

Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819), first King of Hawai'i

Kanishka (died c. 127), ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India

Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010-1029), King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia

Kublai Khan (1215-1294), Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty

Llywelyn the Great (c. 1172–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales

Louis I of Hungary (1326-1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland

Mangrai the Great (1238-1317), Lanna, northern Thailand

Emperor Meiji (1852-1912), Emperor of Japan

Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418)

Mithridates II of Parthia (died 88 BC), ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present day Iran)

Mithridates VI of Pontus (134 BC–63 BC), ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom

Mstislav I of Kiev (1076-1132), Grand Prince of Kievan Rus

Narai (1633-1688), King of Ayutthaya (in what is now modern Thailand)

Naresuan (1555-1605), King of Ayutthaya

Odo the Great (died c. 735), Duke of Aquitaine

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)

K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603-683), ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque

Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186), King of Sri Lanka

Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia (died 1075), King of Croatia

Peter the Great (1672-1725), Tsar of Russia

Peter III of Aragon (1239-1285), King of Aragon and King of Sicily

Pompey (106 BC-48 BC), military and political leader of the late Roman Republic, rival of Julius Caesar

Radama I (1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar

Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947-1014), Indian emperor of the Cholas.

Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014-1044), Tamil King of India

Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC), considered the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt

Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247-1298), King of Sukhothai (in present day Thailand)

Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082-1131), also Count of Provence and various other counties

Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878), King of Gwynedd (in present day Wales)

Roman the Great (after 1160-1205), Grand Prince of Kiev

Samudragupta (c. 335–375), ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent

Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035), King of Kingdom of Navarre

Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC), ruler of the Akkadian Empire

Sejong the Great (1397-1450), Korean king

Shapur II (309-379), king of the Sassanid Empire, Persia

Simeon I of Bulgaria (864/865-927), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire

Stephen III of Moldavia (1433-1504), Prince of Moldavia (Romania)

Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (c. 1308-1355), King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks

Taksin (1734-1782), King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand)

Timur (1336-1405), better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty

Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie

Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire

Theodosius I (347-395), Roman emperor

Tigranes the Great (140-55 BC), Emperor of Armenia

Tiridates III of Armenia (285-339), King of Armenia

Umar (c. 586 to 590–644), second caliph of the Muslim Empire

Valdemar I of Denmark (1131-1182), King of Denmark

Valentinian I (364-375), Roman Emperor

Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958-1015), ruler of Kievan Rus

Vytautas (c. 1350-1430), archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy

William I, Count of Burgundy (1020-1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon

William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969-1030), also Count of Poitou

Xerxes I (519-465 BC), King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia)

Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China

Religious figures

Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492-586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East

Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366, hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia

Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian

Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt

Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader

Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Greek bishop and theologian

Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)

Euthymius the Great (377-473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint

Gertrude the Great (1256-c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint

Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)

Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi, Palestine

Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400-461)

Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Egyptian hermit

Pope Nicholas I (c. 800-867)

Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople

William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites

Other

Beli Mawr, a figure in medieval Welsh literature and genealogies

Emmy the Great, folk singer

Matteo Rosso the Great, Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III

Prokop the Great, Hussite general in Bohemia

See also

Epithet

List of monarchs by nickname

List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I

James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus

Ajax (mythology), called Ajax the Greater

Notes

Category:Monarchs Great, List of people known as The Category:Greatest Nationals Category:Epithets

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Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
playername	Lionel Messi
fullname	Lionel Andrés Messi
dateofbirth	June 24, 1987
cityofbirth	Rosario
countryofbirth	Argentina
height
position	Striker / Winger
currentclub	Barcelona
clubnumber	10
youthyears1	1995–2000
youthyears2	2000–2004
youthclubs1	Newell's Old Boys
youthclubs2	Barcelona
years1	2004–2005
clubs1	Barcelona B
caps1	22
goals1	6
years2	2004–
clubs2	Barcelona
caps2	178
goals2	121
nationalyears1	2005
nationalyears2	2008
nationalyears3	2005–
nationalteam1	Argentina U20
nationalteam2	Argentina U23
nationalteam3	Argentina
nationalcaps1	7
nationalgoals1	6
nationalcaps2	5
nationalgoals2	2
nationalcaps3	60
nationalgoals3	17
medaltemplates	}}

| pcupdate = 13:30, 7 July 2011 (UTC) | ntupdate = 10:17, 17 July 2011 (UTC) }} Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (born 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina) is a football player who currently plays for FC Barcelona and captains the Argentina national team as a striker or winger. Considered one of the best football players of his generation, Messi received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21, and won in 2009 and 2010. His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his "successor".

Messi began playing football at a young age and his potential was quickly identified by Barcelona. He left Rosario-based Newell's Old Boys's youth team in 2000 and moved with his family to Europe, as Barcelona offered treatment for his growth hormone deficiency. Making his debut in the 2004–05 season, he broke his team record for the youngest footballer to score a league goal. Major honours soon followed as Barcelona won La Liga in Messi's debut season, and won a double of the league and Champions League in 2006. His breakthrough season was in the 2006–07 season; he became a first team regular, scoring a hat-trick in El Clásico and finishing with 14 goals in 26 league games. Messi then had the most successful season of his playing career, the 2008–09 season, in which he scored 38 goals to play an integral part in a treble-winning campaign. This record-breaking season was then eclipsed in the following 2009–10 campaign, where Messi scored 47 goals in all competitions, equalling Ronaldo's record total for Barcelona. He surpassed this record again in the 2010–11 season with 53 goals in all competitions.

Messi has won five La Liga titles, three Champions League titles, scoring in two of those finals, against Manchester United in both 2009 and 2011. He was not on the pitch as Barcelona defeated Arsenal in 2006, but received a winners' medal from the tournament. After scoring 12 goals in the 2010–11 Champions League, Messi became only the third player (after Gerd Müller and Jean-Pierre Papin) to top-score in three successive European Champion Clubs' Cup campaigns. However, Messi is the first one to win the Champions League top scorer titles for three consecutive years after Champions League changed its format in 1992.

Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with six goals, including two in the final game. Shortly thereafter, he became an established member of Argentina's senior international team. In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup and he won a runners-up medal at the Copa América tournament the following year. In 2008, in Beijing, he won his first international honour, an Olympic gold medal, with the Argentina Olympic football team.

Early life

Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, to parents Jorge Horacio Messi, a factory steel worker, and Celia María Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner. His paternal family originates from the Italian city of Ancona, from which his ancestor, Angelo Messi, emigrated to Argentina in 1883. He has two older brothers named Rodrigo and Matías as well as a sister named María Sol. At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge. In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys who were based in his home city Rosario. At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. The traditional River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for treatment for his condition which cost $900 a month. Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, had been made aware of his talent as Messi had relatives in Lleida, Catalonia, and Messi and his father were able to arrange a trial. Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered Messi a contract written on a paper napkin. Barcelona offered to pay for Messi's medical bills if he was willing to move to Spain. Messi and his father moved to Barcelona where Messi enrolled in the club's youth academy.

Club career

Barcelona

Messi made his official debut for the first-team on 16 November 2003 aged 16 years and 145 days, in a friendly match against Porto. Less than a year later, Frank Rijkaard let him make his league debut against RCD Espanyol on 16 October 2004 (at 17 years and 114 days), becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga. This record was broken by Bojan Krkić in September 2007. When he scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete Balompié on 1 May 2005, Messi was 17 years, ten months and seven days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for Barcelona until it was again broken by Bojan Krkić in 2007, scoring from a Messi assist. Messi said about his ex-coach Rijkaard: "I'll never forget the fact that he launched my career, that he had confidence in me while I was only sixteen or seventeen."

2005–06 season

On 16 September, for the second time in three months, Barcelona announced an update to Messi's contract; this time it was improved to pay him as a first team member and extended until June 2014. Messi obtained Spanish citizenship on 26 September 2005 and was finally able to make his debut in the season's Spanish First Division. Messi's first home outing in the Champions League came on 27 September against Italian club Udinese. Fans at Barcelona's stadium, the Camp Nou, gave Messi a standing ovation upon his substitution, as his composure on the ball and passing combinations with Ronaldinho had paid dividends for Barcelona.

Messi netted six goals in 17 league appearances, and scored one Champions League goal in six. His season ended prematurely on 7 March 2006, however, when he suffered a muscle tear in his right thigh during the second leg of the second round Champions League tie against Chelsea. Rijkaard's Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.

2006–07 season

In the 2006–07 season, Messi established himself as a regular first team player, scoring 14 times in 26 matches. On 12 November, in the game against Real Zaragoza, Messi suffered a broken metatarsal, ruling him out for three months. Messi recuperated from his injury in Argentina, and his return to action came against Racing Santander on 11 February, where he came on as a second-half substitute. On 11 March, ''El Clásico'' saw Messi in top form, scoring a hat-trick to earn 10-man Barcelona a 3–3 draw, equalising three times, with the final equaliser coming in injury time. In doing so he became the first player since Iván Zamorano (for Real Madrid in the 1994–95 season) to score a hat-trick in ''El Clásico''. Messi is also the youngest player ever to have scored in this fixture. Towards the end of the season he began finding the net more often; 11 of his 14 league goals for the season came from the last 13 games. Messi also proved the "new Maradona" tag was not all hype, by nearly replicating Maradona's most famous goals in the space of the single season. On 18 April 2007, he scored two goals during a Copa del Rey semi-final against Getafe CF, one of which was very similar to Maradona's famous goal against England at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, known as the Goal of the Century. The world's sports press drew comparisons with Maradona, and the Spanish press labelled Messi as "Messidona". He ran about the same distance, , beat the same number of players (six, including the goalkeeper), scored from a very similar position, and ran towards the corner flag just as Maradona did in Mexico 21 years before. In a press conference after the game, Messi's team-mate Deco said: "It was the best goal I have ever seen in my life." Against RCD Espanyol Messi also scored a goal which was remarkably similar to Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal against England in the World Cup quarter-finals. Messi launched himself at the ball and connected with his hand to guide the ball past the goalkeeper Carlos Kameni. Despite protests by Espanyol players and replays showing it was clear handball, the goal stood.

2007–08 season

During the 2007–08 season, Messi scored five goals in a week leading Barcelona to the top four in La Liga. On 19 September he scored once as Barcelona defeated Lyon 3–0 at home in a Champions League match. He scored two goals against Sevilla FC on 22 September and then on 26 September, Messi scored another two goals in a 4–1 victory over Real Zaragoza. Next goal came in 4–1 away win against Levante UD in 29 September 2007. His second Champions League goal of the season came against VfB Stuttgart. On 27 February, Messi played in his 100th official match for Barcelona against Valencia.

Messi was nominated for a FIFPro World XI Player Award under the category of Forward. A poll conducted in the online edition of the Spanish newspaper ''Marca'' had him as the best player in the world with 77 percent of the vote. Columnists from Barcelona-based newspapers ''El Mundo Deportivo'' and ''Sport'' stated that the Ballon d'Or should be given to Messi, a view supported by Franz Beckenbauer. Football personalities such as Francesco Totti have declared that they consider Messi to be one of the current best footballers in the world.

Messi was sidelined for six weeks following an injury on 4 March when he suffered a muscle tear in his left thigh during a Champions League match against Celtic. It was the fourth time in three seasons that Messi suffered this type of injury. After coming back from the injury Messi scored his last goal of 2007–08 season against Valencia on 4 May 2008 in a 6–0 win. When the season was over Messi managed to score 16 goals and assisted 13 times in all competition.

2008–09 season

Upon Ronaldinho's departure from the club, Messi inherited his number 10 jersey. On 1 October 2008, during a Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk, Messi scored two goals during the last seven minutes, after coming on as a substitute for Thierry Henry, to turn a 1–0 deficit to a 2–1 victory for Barcelona. The next league game was versus Atlético Madrid, a match billed as a friendly battle between Messi and his good friend Sergio Agüero. Messi scored a goal from a free kick and assisted another as Barça went on to win the match 6–1. Messi netted another impressive brace against Sevilla scoring a volley from and then dribbling round the goalkeeper and scoring from a tight angle for the other. On 13 December 2008, during the first Clásico of the season, Messi scored the second goal in Barcelona's 2–0 win over Real Madrid. He was also named second in the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year awards with 678 points.

Messi scored his first hat-trick of 2009 in a Copa del Rey tie against Atlético Madrid which Barcelona won 3–1. Messi scored another important double on 1 February 2009, coming on as a second half substitute to help Barcelona defeat Racing Santander 1–2 after being 1–0 down. The second of the two strikes was Barcelona's 5000th league goal. In the 28th round of La Liga, Messi scored his 30th goal of the season in all competitions, helping his team to a 6–0 victory over Málaga CF in the process. On 8 April 2009, he scored twice against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, setting a personal record of eight goals in the competition. On 18 April, Messi notched his 20th league goal of the season in a 1–0 win at Getafe, allowing Barcelona to maintain their six-point advantage at the top of the league table over Real Madrid.

As Barcelona's season was drawing to a close, Messi scored twice (his 35th and 36th goals in all competitions) to cap a 6–2 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in what was Real's heaviest defeat since 1930. After scoring each goal, he ran towards the fans and the cameras lifting up his Barcelona jersey and showing another T-shirt that read ''Síndrome X Fràgil'', Catalan for Fragile X Syndrome, to show his support for children who suffer from the affliction. Messi was involved in the build-up to Andrés Iniesta's injury time goal against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final to send Barcelona through to face Manchester United in the final. He won his first Copa del Rey on 13 May, scoring one goal and assisting another two, in a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao. He helped his team win the double by winning La Liga. On 27 May he helped Barcelona win the Champions League by scoring a second goal in the 70th minute giving Barcelona a two goal lead; he also became the top scorer in the Champions League, the youngest in the tournament's history, with nine goals. Messi also won the UEFA Club Forward of the Year: and the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year rounding off a spectacular year in Europe. This victory meant Barcelona had won the Copa del Rey, La Liga and Champions League in the one season, and was the first time a Spanish club had ever won the treble.

2009–10 season

After winning the 2009 UEFA Super Cup, Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola asserted that Messi was probably the best player he had ever seen. On 18 September, Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona, running until 2016 and with a buy-out clause of €250 million included, making Messi, along with Zlatan Ibrahimović, the highest paid players in La Liga, with earnings of around €9.5 million yearly. Four days later, on 22 September, Messi scored two goals and assisted another in Barça's 4–1 win over Racing Santander in La Liga. He scored his first European goal of the season on 29 September in a 2–0 win over Dynamo Kyiv, and then took his goal tally to six goals in seven games in La Liga with a strike during a 6–1 routing of Real Zaragoza at Camp Nou.

Messi was named winner of the 2009 Ballon d'Or on 1 December 2009, beating runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo by largest ever margin of 473 to 233. Afterwards, France Football magazine quoted Messi as saying: "I dedicate it to my family. They were always present when I needed them and sometimes felt even stronger emotions than me."

On 19 December, Messi scored the winner in the final of the 2009 Club World Cup against Estudiantes in Abu Dhabi, giving the club their sixth title of the year. Two days later, he was given the FIFA World Player of the Year award, beating Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Kaká and Andrés Iniesta to the award. This was the first time he had won the award, and he became the first Argentinean to ever receive this honour. On 10 January 2010, Messi scored his first hat-trick in 2010 and his first hat-trick of the season against CD Tenerife in the 0–5 victory, and on 17 January he scored his 100th goal for the club in the 4–0 victory over Sevilla.

Messi then started an impressive run scoring 11 goals in five games. First he scored on the 84th minute against Málaga for a 2–1 win, then he scored two goals against UD Almería in a 2–2 tie. He continued his spree with an impressive week where he scored eight goals; he started by scoring a hat-trick against Valencia CF in a 3–0 home win, then he scored two goals against Stuttgart, in a 4–0 win that secured Barcelona's qualification to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, and finally he scored another hat-trick against Zaragoza in a 4–2 away win, becoming the first Barcelona player to score back-to-back hat-tricks in La Liga. He played his 200th official match for Barcelona against Osasuna on 24 March 2010.

On 6 April 2010, for the first time in Messi's career he scored four goals in a single match, netting the lot in a 4–1 home win over Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final second leg. This also saw him overtake Rivaldo as Barcelona's all time greatest scorer in the competition. On 10 April, Messi scored his 40th goal of the season when he netted the first goal in a 2–0 away win against title-rivals Real Madrid in El Clásico. On 1 May, Messi played his 50th game of the season and scored two goals on a 4–1 away win against Villarreal. Just three days later, on 4 May, Messi scored two goals in another 4–1 win at home against Tenerife. Messi scored his 32nd goal of the La Liga season on 8 May, during an away win against Sevilla, and in the final match against Valladolid, he scored two goals in the second half to tie Ronaldo's club record of 34 goals in a single league season, set in 1996–97, and to finish four goals behind the all-time record held by Telmo Zarra. He was named La Liga player of the year for the second year in a row on 3 June 2010.

2010–11 season

On 21 August 2010, Messi scored a hat-trick in his first start of the season in a 4–0 victory over Sevilla FC in the Supercopa de España, helping Barcelona secure their first trophy of the season after a 1–3 first leg loss. He also began his league season with a goal, scoring after just three minutes against Racing Santander on 29 August 2010. He then continued his excellent form into the UEFA Champions League group stage match against Panathinaikos where he scored two goals, assisted another two and also hit the frame of the goal on two separate occasions.

On 19 September 2010, Messi suffered an ankle injury due to an ill-advised tackle by Atlético Madrid defender Tomáš Ujfaluši in the 92nd minute of their Round 3 match at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. At first sight it was feared that Messi suffered a broken ankle that could have kept the star player away from the pitch for a minimum of six months, but MRI performed the next day in Barcelona showed he suffered a sprain in the internal and external ligaments of his right ankle. Team-mate David Villa stated "the tackle on Messi was brutal" after watching the video of the play and also added that he believed the Atlético defender "didn't go into the tackle to hurt". The incident caused widespread media attention and brought up the debate of equality in protecting all players in the game.

When Messi recovered he scored in a 1–1 tie against RCD Mallorca. He then scored another brace on the UEFA Champions League against København and helped the team to a 2–0 home win. He continued his impressive scoring run with braces against Zaragoza and Sevilla. After a prolific October, he started November scoring on an away 1–1 tie against København and an away 3–1 win against Getafe where he also assisted team-mates David Villa and Pedro Rodríguez. In the next fixture against Villarreal CF, he scored combining with Pedro, which gave Barcelona a 2–1 lead. He scored another goal and Barcelona won 3–1. This was the 7th consecutive match in which Messi scored, breaking his own previous record of 6. He also achieved the feat of scoring 50 goals in the calender year of 2010 with the 1st goal, while with the second goal, he achieved the same feat again, this time considering the goals he scored wearing a Barcelona shirt in 2010. Against Almería he scored his second hat-trick of the season in an impressive 8–0 away win, the second goal was his 100th La Liga goal. He scored on his ninth game in a row (10th including a friendly against Brazil) on a 3–0 away win against Panathinaikos. Messi's goalscoring run ended on 29 November at El Clásico but Barcelona still managed to win 5–0 with Messi assisting Villa twice. The next match day he scored a brace and gave an assist against Osasuna. He followed with another brace against Real Sociedad. In El Derbi, a match Barcelona won 1–5, he assisted teammates Pedro and Villa to score one goal each. His first goal in 2011 came against Deportivo La Coruña with a free kick on a 4–0 away win, where he once again assisted both Pedro and Villa.

Messi won the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or, beating his Barcelona teammates Xavi and Iniesta. Messi had been nominated for the awards for the fourth consecutive year. Only two days after he won the award he scored his first hat-trick of the year and third of the season against Real Betis. He began the second round of the league with a goal, scoring his second penalty against Racing Santander. After scoring the penalty kick, Messi revealed a message on his undershirt that said, "Happy birthday, mami.". He continued his goalscoring form with a brace against Almería in the Copa del Rey semifinal, and followed it up with another brace less than a week later against Hércules CF. On 5 February, Barcelona broke the record for most consecutive league wins with 16 victories after they defeated Atlético Madrid 3–0 at the Camp Nou. Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to ensure the victory for his side and after the match he stated, "it's an honor to be able to pass a record set by a great like Di Stéfano" and "if the record has been around for so long is because it's very complicated to achieve and we have reached it by defeating a very difficult team who's going through a bad situation, which makes it even more difficult."

After two scoreless games he scored the winner against Athletic Bilbao in which Barcelona won 2–1. The next week he scored the first header of the season against Mallorca on a 3–0 away win. This victory was the equalising a La Liga record set by Basque club Real Sociedad in the 1979–80 campaign with a 19 unbeaten away matches. The record was broken after three days later when Messi scored the only goal on an away victory over Valencia. On 8 March, Messi scored two goals against Arsenal in a UEFA Champions League match at the Camp Nou, helping Barcelona win 3–1 and qualify to the quarter-finals of the competition. After failing to score for a month he scored a brace against Almería; the second goal was his 47th of the season, equalling his club record return of the previous season. He surpassed his record on 12 April 2011 by scoring the winner against Shakhtar Donetsk in a UEFA Champions League game, which put him in the record book as all time top scorer in a single season for Barcelona. He scored his eight goal on El Clásico on a 1–1 tie at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. On 23 April, Messi scored his 50th goal of the season against Osasuna in a 2–0 home victory which he came on as a substitute in the 60th minute.

In the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals he gave a memorable performance, scoring twice against Real Madrid in a 2–0 win, the second goal (a dribble past several players) being acclaimed as one of the best ever at that stage of the competition. At the Champions League Final at Wembley, Messi scored the eventual game-clinching goal to give Barcelona their third title in six years and fourth overall.

2011–12 season

Messi started the season in the 2011 Spanish Supercup, scoring three goals and giving two assists for a 5–4 aggregate win against Real Madrid. On his next official match he scored again after a weak back pass from Fredy Guarín and gave an assist to Cesc Fàbregas for a 2-0 win against Porto at the UEFA Super Cup. This was the only official competition where he hadn't score before.

International career

In June 2004, he debuted for Argentina, playing in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay. In 2005 he was part of a team that won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. There, he won the Golden Ball and the Golden Shoe, scoring in the last four of Argentina's matches and netting a total of six for the tournament.

He made his full international debut on 17 August 2005 against Hungary at the age of 18. He was substituted on during the 63rd minute, but was sent off on the 65th minute because the referee, Markus Merk, found he had headbutted defender Vilmos Vanczák, who was tugging Messi's shirt. The decision was contentious and Maradona even claimed the decision was pre-meditated. Messi returned to the team on 3 September in Argentina's 1–0 World Cup qualifier away defeat to Paraguay. Ahead of the match he had said "This is a re-debut. The first one was a bit short." He then started his first game for Argentina against Peru; after the match Pekerman described Messi as "a jewel".

On 28 March 2009, in a World Cup Qualifier against Venezuela, Messi wore the number 10 jersey for the first time with Argentina. This match was the first official match for Diego Maradona as the Argentina manager. Argentina won the match 4–0 with Messi opening the scoring.

On 17 November 2010, Messi scored a last-minute goal against South American rivals Brazil after an individual effort to help his team to a 1–0 win in the friendly match, which was held in Doha. This was the first time that he had scored against Brazil at senior level. Messi scored another last-minute goal on 9 February 2011 against Portugal in a penalty kick which he give his side a 2–1 victory in the friendly match, which was held in Geneva, Switzerland.

2006 World Cup

The injury that kept Messi from playing for two months at the end of the 2005–06 season jeopardised his presence in the 2006 World Cup. Nevertheless, Messi was selected in the Argentina squad for the tournament on 15 May 2006. He also played in the final match before the World Cup against the Argentine U-20 team for 15 minutes and a friendly match against Angola from the 64th minute. He witnessed Argentina's opening match victory against Ivory Coast from the substitute's bench. In the next match against Serbia and Montenegro, Messi became the youngest player to represent Argentina at a World Cup when he came on as a substitute for Maxi Rodríguez in the 74th minute. He assisted Hernán Crespo's goal within minutes of entering the game and also scored the final goal in the 6–0 victory, making him the youngest scorer in the tournament and the sixth youngest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup. Messi started in Argentina's following 0–0 draw against the Netherlands. In the following game against Mexico, Messi came on as a substitute in the 84th minute, with the score tied at 1–1. He appeared to score a goal, but it was ruled offside with Argentina needing a late goal in extra time to proceed. Coach José Pekerman left Messi on the bench during the quarter-final match against Germany, which they lost 4–2 on a penalty shootout.

2007 Copa América

Messi played his first game in the 2007 Copa América on 29 June 2007, when Argentina defeated United States 4–1 in the first game. In this game, he showed his capabilities as a playmaker. He set up a goal for fellow striker Hernán Crespo and had numerous shots on target. Tevez came on as a substitute for Messi in the 79th minute and scored minutes later.

His second game was against Colombia, in which he won a penalty that Crespo converted to tie the game at 1–1. He also played a part in Argentina's second goal as he was fouled outside the box, which allowed Juan Roman Riquelme to score from a freekick, and increase Argentina's lead to 3–1. The final score of the game was 4–2 in Argentina's favor and guaranteed them a spot in the tournament's quarterfinals.

In the third game, against Paraguay the coach rested Messi having already qualified for the quarter-finals. He came off the bench in place of Esteban Cambiasso in the 64th minute, with the score at 0–0. In the 79th minute, he assisted a goal for Javier Mascherano. In the quarter-finals, as Argentina faced Peru, Messi scored the second goal of the game, from a Riquelme pass in a 4–0 win. During the semi-final match against Mexico, Messi scored a lob over Oswaldo Sánchez to see Argentina through to the final with a 3–0 win. Argentina went on to lose 3–0 to Brazil in the final.

2008 Summer Olympics

Having barred Messi from playing for Argentina in the 2008 Olympics, Barcelona agreed to release him after he held talks with newly appointed coach Josep Guardiola. He joined the Argentina squad and scored the first goal in a 2–1 victory over Ivory Coast. He then scored the opening goal and assisted Ángel di María in the second to help his side to a 2–1 extra-time win against the Netherlands. He also featured in Argentina's match against rivals Brazil, in which Argentina took a 3–0 victory, thus advancing to the final. In the gold medal match, Messi again assisted Di María for the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Nigeria.

2010 World Cup

Messi played the entire game on Argentina's opening match in the 2010 World Cup, the 1–0 victory against Nigeria. He had several opportunities to score but was repeatedly denied by Vincent Enyeama. Messi started in Argentina's following 4–1 win against Korea Republic; he participated in all of the goals of his team and helped Gonzalo Higuaín score a hat-trick. On the third and last group stage match Messi captained during Argentina's 2–0 win over Greece, again being the centrepoint of Argentina's play and was voted man of the match.

At the Round of 16 he assisted Carlos Tévez for the first goal in a 3–1 win against Mexico. The referee awarded that goal even though it was a clear offside. The World Cup ended for Argentina with a 4–0 loss against Germany in the quarter-finals.

2011 Copa América

Messi took part in the Copa América in Argentina, where he failed to score a goal but notched three assists. He was selected man-of-the-match in matches against Bolivia (1–1) and Costa Rica (3–0). Argentina were eliminated in the quarter-finals in a penalty shoot-out against Uruguay (1–1 a.e.t.), with Messi scoring as the first penalty taker.

Outside football

Personal life

Messi was at one stage romantically linked to Macarena Lemos, also from his hometown of Rosario. He is said to have been introduced to her by the girl's father when he returned to Rosario to recover from his injury a few days before the start of the 2006 World Cup. He has in the past also been linked to the Argentine glamour model Luciana Salazar. In January 2009 he told "Hat Trick Barça", a programme on Canal 33: "I have a girlfriend and she is living in Argentina. I am relaxed and happy". He was seen with the girl, Antonella Roccuzzo, at a carnival in Sitges after the Barcelona-Espanyol derby. Roccuzzo is a fellow native of Rosario.

Messi has two cousins also involved in football: Maxi, a winger for Club Olimpia of Paraguay, and Emanuel Biancucchi, who plays as a midfielder for Spain's Girona FC.

Charity

In 2007 Messi established the Leo Messi Foundation, a charity supporting access to education and health care for vulnerable children. In an fansite interview, Messi said: “Being a bit famous now gives me the opportunity to help people who really need it, especially children." In response to Messi’s own childhood medical difficulties, the Leo Messi Foundation supports Argentine children diagnosed with medical conditions by offering treatment in Spain and covering the transport, hospital and recuperation costs. Messi’s foundation is supported by his own fundraising activity with additional assistance from Herbalife.

On 11 March 2010 Messi was announced as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. Messi’s UNICEF ambassador activities are aimed at supporting children’s rights. Messi is supported in this by FC Barcelona, who also have a strong association with UNICEF.

Media

He is featured on the front covers of the video games ''Pro Evolution Soccer 2009'' and ''Pro Evolution Soccer 2011'' and is also involved in promotional campaigns for the games. Messi, along with Fernando Torres, is the face of ''Pro Evolution Soccer 2010'', and was also involved in the motion capturing and the trailer. Messi is sponsored by the German sportswear company Adidas and features in their television advertisements. In June 2010, Messi also signed a three–year contract with Herbalife which further supports the Leo Messi Foundation.

Career statistics

Club

1 6 14 10 23 34 31 2

Club	Season	!colspan="3"	!colspan="3"	!colspan="3"	!colspan="3"	UEFA Super Cup	!colspan="3"	Total
!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists
rowspan="8"	Barcelona		7	|	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	—			—			—			9	1	0
2005–06 FC Barcelona season	2005–06	17	|	3	2	1	0	6	1	1	0	0	0	—			—			25	8	4
2006–07 FC Barcelona season	2006–07	26	|	2	2	2	1	5	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	36	17	3
2007–08 FC Barcelona season	2007–08	28	|	12	3	0	0	9	6	1	—			—			—			40	16	13
2008–09 FC Barcelona season	2008–09	31	|	11	8	6	2	12	9	5	—			—			—			51	38	18
2009–10 FC Barcelona season	2009–10	35	|	10	3	1	0	11	8	0	1	2	0	1	0	1	2	2	0	53	47	11
2010–11 FC Barcelona season	2010–11	33	|	18	7	7	3	13	12	3	2	3	0	—			—			55	53	24
2011–12 FC Barcelona season	2011–12	1	|	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	4	6	4
Career total	!178!!121!!57!!26!!17!!6!!57!!37!!10!!7!!8!!2!!3!!1!!2!!2!!2!!0!!273!!186!!77

International

5 8 10 9 10 10 8

!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals!!Assists
rowspan=7	'''Argentina	2005	|	0	0
2006	|	2	2
2007	|	6	3
2008	|	2	1
2009	|	3	2
2010	|	2	2
2011	|	2	7
Total!!60!!17!!17

International goals

Under–20

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first.'' 14 June 2005 22 June 2005 24 June 2005 28 June 2005 2 July 2005 2 July 2005

!Goal	!Date!!Venue!!Opponent!!Score!!Result!!Competition
1	|	De Grolsch Veste>Arke Stadion, Enschede, Netherlands		1–0	2–0	2005 FIFA World Youth Championship>2005 World Youth Championship
2	|	Univé Stadion, Emmen, Netherlands>Emmen, Netherlands		1–1	2–1	2005 World Youth Championship
3	|	Arke Stadion, Enschede, Netherlands		3–1	3–1	2005 World Youth Championship
4	|	Stadion Galgenwaard>Galgenwaard Stadion, Utrecht, Netherlands		1–0	2–1	2005 World Youth Championship
5	|	Galgenwaard Stadion, Utrecht, Netherlands		1–0	2–1	2005 World Youth Championship
6	|	Galgenwaard Stadion, Utrecht, Netherlands	Nigeria	2–1	2–1	2005 World Youth Championship

Under–23

7 August 2008 16 August 2008

!Goal	!Date!!Venue!!Opponent!!Score!!Result!!Competition
1	|	Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai, China		1–0	2–1	Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament>2008 Summer Olympics
2	|	Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai, China		1–0	2–1	2008 Summer Olympics

Senior team

1 March 2006 16 June 2006 5 June 2007 5 June 2007 8 July 2007 11 July 2007 16 October 2007 20 November 2007 align=left 4 June 2008 11 October 2008 11 February 2009 28 March 2009 14 November 2009 7 September 2010 17 November 2010 align=left 9 February 2011 align=left 20 June 2011 align=left

!Goal	!Date!!Venue!!Opponent!!Score!!Result!!Competition
1	|	St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland		2–1	2–3	Exhibition game>Friendly
2	|	Veltins-Arena>WM-Stadion Gelsenkirchen, Gelsenkirchen, Germany		6–0	6–0	2006 FIFA World Cup>2006 World Cup
3	|	Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain		2–2	4–3	Friendly
4	|	Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain	Algeria	4–2	4–3	Friendly
5	|	Estadio Metropolitano de Fútbol de Lara>Metropolitano de Fútbol de Lara, Barquisimeto, Venezuela		2–0	4–0	2007 Copa América
6	|	Polideportivo Cachamay, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela		2–0	3–0	2007 Copa América
7	|	Estadio José Pachencho Romero>José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo, Venezuela		2–0	2–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)>2010 World Cup qualification
8	|	Estadio El Campín, Bogotá, Colombia	Colombia ||	1–0	1–2	2010 World Cup qualification
9	|	Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States	Mexico	2–0	4–1	Friendly
10	|	Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti>Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina		1–0	2–1	2010 World Cup qualification
11	|	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France		2–0	2–0	Friendly
12	|	Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Venezuela	1–0	4–0	2010 World Cup qualification
13	|	Vicente Calderón Stadium, Madrid, Spain		1–1	1–2	Friendly
14	|	Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Spain	1–0	4–1	Friendly
15	|	Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar	Brazil ||	1–0	1–0	Friendly
16	|	Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland	Portugal ||	2–1	2–1	Friendly
17	|	Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Albania ||	2–0	4–0	Friendly

Awards and honours

Club

;Barcelona

La Liga: 5

:: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11

Copa del Rey: 1

:: 2008–09

Supercopa de España: 5

:: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011

UEFA Champions League: 3

:: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11

UEFA Super Cup: 2

:: 2009, 2011

FIFA Club World Cup: 1

:: 2009

Argentina

FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1

:: 2005

Olympic Gold Medal: 1

:: 2008

Individual

FIFA Ballon d'Or: 1

:: 2010

Ballon d'Or: 1

:: 2009

FIFA World Player of the Year: 1

:: 2009

FIFA Team of the Year: 3

:: 2008, 2009, 2010

U-21 European Footballer of the Year: 1

:: 2007

La Liga Player of the Year: 3

:: 2009, 2010, 2011

La Liga top goalscorer: 1

:: 2010

Copa del Rey top goalscorer: 1

:: 2011

La Liga Foreign Player of the Year: 3

:: 2007, 2009, 2010

La Liga Ibero-American Player of the Year: 4

:: 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011

European Golden Shoe: 1

:: 2010

UEFA Champions League top goalscorer: 3

:: 2009, 2010, 2011

UEFA Best Player in Europe: 1

:: 2011

UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 1

:: 2009

UEFA Champions League Forward of the Year: 1

:: 2009

UEFA Champions League Final Man of the Match: 1

:: 2011

UEFA Champions League Final Fans' Man of the Match: 2

:: 2009, 2011

UEFA Team of the Year: 3

:: 2008, 2009, 2010

Footballer of the Year of Argentina: 5

:: 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

FIFPro World Player of the Year: 2

:: 2009, 2010

FIFPro World Young Player of the Year: 3

:: 2006, 2007, 2008

FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year: 2

:: 2007, 2008

FIFPro World XI: 4

:: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

FIFA U-20 World Cup Player of the Tournament: 1

:: 2005

FIFA U-20 World Cup top goalscorer: 1

:: 2005

Copa América Young Player of the Tournament: 1

:: 2007

World Soccer Player of the Year: 1

:: 2009

World Soccer Young Player of the Year: 3

:: 2006, 2007, 2008

FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 1

:: 2009

ESM Team of the Year: 5

:: 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11

Onze d'Or: 2

:: 2009, 2010

Bravo Award: 1

:: 2007

Tuttosport Golden Boy: 1

:: 2005

Marca Leyenda: 1

:: 2009

UEFA best goal of the year: 1

:: 2007

References

External links

FC Barcelona profile

BDFutbol profile

Transfermarkt profile

Profile at ESPN

FIFA World Cup profile

Official page at Facebook

Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:People from Rosario, Santa Fe Category:Argentine people of Italian descent Category:Naturalised citizens of Spain Category:Argentine footballers Category:Association football forwards Category:La Liga footballers Category:FC Barcelona Atlètic footballers Category:FC Barcelona footballers Category:Pichichi Trophy winners Category:Argentina international footballers Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:2007 Copa América players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:2011 Copa América players Category:Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic footballers of Argentina Category:Olympic medalists in football Category:Olympic gold medalists for Argentina Category:UNICEF people Category:Argentine expatriate footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in Spain

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Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	Noel Fielding
birth date	May 21, 1973
birth place	Westminster, London, England
medium	Stand-up, television, film, radio
nationality	British
active	1996–present
genre	Sitcom
notable work	Vince Noirin ''The Mighty Boosh'' Richmondin ''The IT Crowd'' Himselfin Never Mind the Buzzcocks
past members	}}

Noel Fielding (born 21 May 1973 in Westminster, London) is a British artist, comedian and actor. He is known for his roles as Vince Noir in ''The Mighty Boosh'', which he co-writes with comedy partner Julian Barratt, and as team captain on the music panel show ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks''.

Career

Stand-up comedy

Noel Fielding performed regularly as a stand-up comedian during the late 1990s, and appeared repeatedly on the television stand-up showcase Lee Mack's ''Gas''. His highly animated stand-up routine included surreal stories, physical comedy, characters, and songs, much like his later work in ''The Mighty Boosh''.

In 2010, Fielding was to perform a solo tour across the country. It was cancelled, however, so he could concentrate on writing ''The Mighty Boosh'' film and album with Barratt. Fielding told fans that he was too busy to do the tour via Twitter.

In 2010, Fielding took part in ''Channel 4's Comedy Gala'', a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital and filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.

The Mighty Boosh

Fielding is best known for playing the role of Vince Noir, a childlike eccentric, opposite Julian Barratt (Howard Moon) in the cult comedy series ''The Mighty Boosh''.

Fielding met Barratt when he was performing a gig. Impressed by Fielding's skill, Barratt offered him a place to perform, and the two went on to form a partnership. Barratt and Fielding are said to have compared their relationship to a marriage; the character of Vince Noir is a kind, somewhat naive and loyal friend to Howard Moon. Vince can talk to animals, earning him the nickname "Mowgli in Flares". Vince is vibrant and flamboyant, contrasting with his Howard, who is more like a "geography teacher from Leeds".

Fielding plays various supporting characters in the Mighty Boosh, including: Tony Harrison, a small pink head with tentacles and member of the shaman council; The Hitcher, a cockney hitch-hiker with a polo mint for an eye, who enjoys "cutting people up"; Spider Dijon, a bongoist in Rudi's band; and Old Gregg, a hermaphroditic merman obsessed with Baileys Irish Cream and watercolors, who is infatuated with Howard and possesses 'The Funk' (a living creature about the size of a medicine ball, but covered in purple teats, which leak funky goodness to help music careers).

''The Mighty Boosh'' won the Shockwaves NME Best TV Award for 3 consecutive years (2007, 2008, and 2009).

Television

Outside his work on ''The Mighty Boosh'', Fielding has also had bit parts in many of Channel 4's somewhat off-beat comedy programmes, including ''Nathan Barley'', ''The IT Crowd'', ''AD/BC: A Rock Opera'' and ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', more often than not appearing alongside Julian Barratt. He also appeared in 1998 sketch show ''Unnatural Acts''. In February 2007, Fielding appeared on ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' as a panelist, before going on to become a permanent team captain. Fielding also made a short appearance in the film ''Plunkett & Macleane'' as a bystander to Robert Carlyle's scuffle in a brothel. Fielding appeared on ''The Charlotte Church Show'' as a special guest.

At Bill Bailey's request, Fielding stood in as a team captain for three episodes during Season 21 of ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks''. He also achieved a record for the highest team score ever on the show. When Bailey returned, presenter Simon Amstell made various jokes about Fielding's departure. In 2009, Bailey left the show and Fielding became one of the regular team captains. According to Neil Gaiman's blog, Fielding was scheduled to appear in the film ''Stardust'', but had to drop out due to ill health. He won an award for the sexiest man in 2008. He also participated twice with Russell Brand in 2006 and 2007 on the annual quiz show ''The Big Fat Quiz of the Year''. He participated again in 2010 with Richard Ayoade, Alan Carr, Jonathan Ross, Michael McIntyre, and Ruth Jones. (Charlotte Church was scheduled to participate but she was unable to do so).

In 2008, Fielding appeared with comic partner Julian Barratt on ''Transmission''. As usual, he wore a somewhat flamboyant attire, this time featuring Cuban heels and polka dot trousers. He won Best Dressed Male at the Shockwaves NME Awards.

In 2009, he helped host ''Comic Relief Does Top of the Pops'' with Reggie Yates and Fearne Cotton.

Fielding played the role of "Marcus" in the series 3 of ''How Not to Live Your Life'', which was broadcast in November 2010.

Fielding will be producing his first solo series in 2011 for the Channel 4 network's E4 channel, as the broadcaster invests an additional £5 million in its comedy budget following the cancellation of reality show ''Big Brother''.

Provisionally titled ''Noel Fielding: Boopus'', Fielding said of the project: "I want to make something in the spirit of Spike Milligan or the Kenny Everett Show but using modern techniques. Blending filmed comedy with animation. Television needs a madman! I want the show to be psychedelic and beautiful but have charm and personality. If Dali made a show hopefully it would look like this."

A video shown to a select audience of C4 staff, producers, writers, performers and journalists showed the Boosh star as a stingray, discussing the recording of albums.

Fielding performed a dance to "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush for ''Let's Dance for Comic Relief'' reaching the finale. He has also appeared in a Kate Bush video for the remix version of "Deeper Understanding".

Radio

Fielding starred in the 2001 ''Mighty Boosh radio series'' as Vince Noir and other characters. It was broadcast on BBC London Live. He also appeared on ''The Russell Brand Show'' on BBC Radio 2 on 26 May 2007 and 13 October 2007, and Team Disgusting's show on Life fm as a co-host for one episode, along with fellow Team Disgusting members Melvis and Birdy.

In November 2007 Fielding starred in five episodes of BBC Radio 2 show ''Vic Reeves' House Arrest'' as a local vagrant who knocks on Reeves' door once a week to ask for work. His character is often given seemingly pointless tasks, such as building a galleon out of sausages, and is paid in small change.

Music

Fielding has appeared in several music videos, including Mint Royale's "Blue Song", alongside Julian Barratt, Nick Frost and Michael Smiley. He also made a brief appearance in the video for Razorlight's "In the Morning". He appeared in music videos for the Robots in Disguise songs "Girl" (alongside Chris Corner who was, at the time, boyfriend to Sue Denim), "The Tears", and "Turn It Up". Recently, Noel has been involved in the Kasabian video "Vlad the Impaler", in which he plays the titular character. He has also appeared in Kate Bush's music video "Deeper Understanding" as a means of thanks for the ''Let's Dance for Comic Relief'' performance.

Fielding is friends with the members of Razorlight, and involved them in the "Priest and the Beast" episode of ''The Mighty Boosh''. Fielding lent his voice to the Midfield General song "Midfielding". Fielding also sometimes plays bass live for Robots in Disguise. Furthermore, he has been known to DJ, often playing at The Barfly in London with the rest of The Mighty Boosh or with his DJ collective known as Team Disgusting, made up of six women and the Rev (formerly of Towers of London). Lately, he has being DJing with Dave Brown, who plays Bollo in ''The Mighty Boosh'', under the DJing phenomenon, the Doctor and the Pencil, who first appeared in the Boosh episode "The Chokes".

Art

He held his first exhibition, entitled ''Psychedelic Dreams of the Jelly Fox'' at Maison Bertaux, a patisserie in Greek Street, Soho in early 2008. He claimed that he was inspired by Henri Rousseau, René Magritte, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, and Dexter Dalwood. He has also revealed that he feels inspired by Salvador Dalí. A second exhibition entitled "Bryan Ferry vs the Jelly Fox" took place at Maison Bertaux, from 5 July 2010 through to 5 January 2011.

Personal life

Fielding resides in Highgate, North London. His parents are Diane and Ray Fielding, both of whom have appeared in ''Mighty Boosh'' episodes. His brother is Michael Fielding, who appears as Naboo the Enigma on the show. He also revealed on Russell Brand's radio show that his grandmother is French. According to an article in ''The Sunday Times'' he has said that his "parents had lots of parties" during his childhood. He has also stated that his parents "were just 18" when they had him.

Fielding was educated at Croydon Art College and Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College (now Buckinghamshire New University).

Fielding has stated that he has no middle name, was never baptised, and does not follow a religion. He has a penchant for celebrity clothing, claiming to have worn Johnny Depp's hat and Freddie Mercury's coat during the filming of ''The Mighty Boosh''.

His uncle (Dr Ford) also taught at KGGS.

Fielding has the benign liver condition Gilbert's Syndrome, and has commented that if he drinks too much alcohol, it gives him slight jaundice. It has been said by ''The Sunday Times'' that Fielding had hepatitis during his art college years. This forced him to not drink for six months which got him into the habit of not drinking for a couple of years. "I used to be able to enjoy myself with just nothing. I'd stay up till four in the morning, with everyone else being drunk. Just make a bit of effort and you can get used to it."

Noel was in a nine year long relationship with Robots in Disguise member Dee Plume. It ended in early 2009. He is now dating XFM London radio DJ Lliana Bird.

On 15 August 2009, Fielding revealed in an interview with ''News of the World'' that he had been taking drugs such as cocaine, ketamine, and MDMA over the past few years, caused by stress due to his increasing fame. However, he has now overcome these habits.

Filmography

Acting roles

''Horrid Henry: The Movie'' (2011)

''Deeper Understanding'' (2011) - music video

''How Not To Live Your Life'' (2010)

''Bunny and The Bull'' (2009)

''The Mighty Boosh Live Future Sailors Tour'' (2009)

''I Spit on Your Rave'' (2010)

''Boosh Live'' (2008–2009) – Vince Noir

''The Mighty Boosh Live'' (2006) – Vince Noir

''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2007, 2010) – Richmond

''Nathan Barley'' (2005) – Jones

''AD/BC: A Rock Opera'' (2004) – Shepherd

''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'' (2004) – Monkey Man

''The Mighty Boosh'' (2004–present) – Vince Noir

''Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dalí'' (2002) – Bauer

''Autoboosh Live'' (2000) – Vince Noir

''Sweet'' (2000) – Pete Sweet

''Arctic Boosh Live'' (1999) – Vince Noir

''Plunkett & Macleane'' (1999) – Brothel Gent

''The Transponder'' (1998) – Rabbi Ginsberg

''The Mighty Boosh Live'' (1998) – Vince Noir

''Unnatural Acts'' (1998) – Various

Television appearances

'' Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy '' (2012)

''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow'' (2011)

''Let's Dance For Comic Relief'' (2011)

''The One Show'' (2011)

''British Comedy Awards'' (2011)

''The Big Fat Quiz of the Year'' (2010)

''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow'' (2010)

'' Modern Masters, Dali (2010)

''Channel 4's Comedy Gala'' (2010)

''The Hour'' (2010)

''Alan Carr: Chatty Man'' (2009)

''Shooting Stars'' (2009)

''Comic Relief Does Top of the Pops'' (2009)

''Harry Hill's TV Burp'' (2008)

''Comic Relief's The Big One'' (2007)

''The Big Fat Quiz of the Year'' (2007)

''The Charlotte Church Show''

:*Episode 2x02 (2007)

''Never Mind the Buzzcocks''

:*21x02-21x04 (2007) Team Captain :*Episode 20x02 (2007) :*Permanent team captain, 2009–present

''The Big Fat Quiz of the Year'' (2006)

''British Comedy Awards 2006'' (2006)

''The Culture Show'' (2006)

''1 Leicester Square'' (2006)

''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross''

:*Episode 11x10 (2006)

''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' (2006)

''Soccer AM'' (2006)

''BBC Breakfast''

:*interview (2006)

''TRL (2006)

''Alan Partridge Presents: The Cream of British Comedy'' (2005)

''BBC Breakfast''

:*Episode dated 26 July 2005 (2005)

''28 Acts in 28 Minutes'' (2005)

''British Comedy Awards 2004'' (2004)

''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'' (2004)

''Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala'' (2003)

''Liquid News'' (2003)

''Brain Candy'' (2002)

''The Big Schmooze''

:*Episode 1x04 (2000)

''Comedy Café'' (1999)

:*Episode 1x07

''Gas'' (1997)

Awards

2010 ''The Mighty Boosh'' won Best DVD at the Shockwaves NME Awards 2010.

2009 ''The Mighty Boosh'' won Best TV Show at the Shockwaves NME Awards 2009.

2009 ''4th in dave's sexiest stand up comedians.

2008 ''2nd Best Dressed Man of the Year'' GQ Awards.

2008 '' Situation Comedy and Comedy Drama '' Royal Television Awards 2008.

2008 '' Best Dressed'' Shockwaves NME Awards 2008.

2008 '' Sexiest Man'' Shockwaves NME Awards 2008.

2008 ''The Mighty Boosh'' won Best TV Show at the Shockwaves NME Awards 2008.

2007 ''The Mighty Boosh'' won Best TV Show at the Shockwaves NME Awards 2007.

2003 ''Time Out'' comedy award winner for outstanding achievement.

2002 Solo Edinburgh show ''Voodoo Hedgehog'' nominated for a Perrier

2001 ''The Boosh'', first on London Live, then on Radio 4.

2000 ''Arctic Boosh'' won the Barry Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

1999 Perrier nominee with Julian Barratt as ''Arctic Boosh''

1998 Herald Angel Award winner.

1998 Perrier Best Newcomer winner with Julian Barratt as the double act ''The Mighty Boosh (1998 Stage show)''

References

External links

Category:Alumni of Buckinghamshire New University Category:English comedians Category:English vegetarians Category:English people of French descent Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:English writers Category:The Mighty Boosh Category:Never Mind the Buzzcocks Category:1973 births Category:Living people

da:Noel Fielding de:Noel Fielding ga:Noel Fielding ru:Филдинг, Ноэль fi:Noel Fielding sv:Noel Fielding

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Galvão Bueno
Birth date	July 21, 1950
Birth place	Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Residence	Londrina, PR, Brazil
Nationality
Employer	Rede Globo, SporTV
Occupation	Football, Formula 1 commentator
Spouse	Desirée Soares
Children	Carlos ''Cacá'' Bueno, Paulo ''Popó'' Bueno
Footnotes	}}

Carlos Eduardo dos Santos Galvão Bueno, known as Galvão Bueno (), is a Brazilian on-air personality and nationwide play-by-play announcer for Rede Globo, where he hosts Formula One races, Brazil national football team matches, key Brazilian football championship matches and top sporting events.

Personal life

Born on July 21, 1950, in the city of Rio de Janeiro to the actress Mildred dos Santos and journalist Aldo Viana Galvão Bueno, Galvão moved to São Paulo with his family when he was 6. There, as a teenager, he began practicing equestrianism, volleyball, football, handball, swimming and karting. At age 15, he moved to Brasília where he met Lúcia, who would become his first wife. He studied business administration and economy but dropped out to start physical education. In 1974, he was working in the plastic industry, but maintained his passion for sports.

In 2000, he married Desirée Soares with whom he lives in Londrina, Paraná. They have a son, Luca. He is also the father of racing drivers Carlos ''Cacá'' Bueno and Paulo ''Popó'' Bueno, both racing in the Brazilian Stock Car series from his first marriage with Lúcia.

Career

Bueno won a contest to become a radio sports commentator and began his career in 1974 commentating football matches and Formula 1 racing for Radio Gazeta. After three years, he moved to work on TV for Rede Record. Soon after, he moved to work for TV Bandeirantes and TV Guanabara hosting the nationwide Formula 1 racing coverage in Brazil. In 1983, he also started announcing football matches for TV Bandeirantes and his remarkable style was quickly praised by Brazilians. Galvão moved to Rede Globo where he continued hosting Formula 1 and football, but in 1992 he left to become the head of the sports department at OM (now CNT). One year later, he moved back to Globo, where he heads the sports department and hosts Formula One races, Brazil national football team matches, key Brazilian football championship matches and top sporting events.

Because of his long and successful career, Brazilians associate him with the many major sporting events he hosted while being the on-air announcer on TV, such as his friend Ayrton Senna's three world championships, his fatal crash during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix and the 1994 and 2002 FIFA World Cup wins by Brazil. He has hosted the last five FIFA World Cups for Rede Globo.

Style

Bueno's style is flashy, pointed with superlative adjectives, and a passionate approach. His ardent and unilateral approach when hosting international events with the presence of a Brazilian team or Brazilian athletes has generated both sympathy and controversy. Critics highlight the large number of on-air mistakes committed by the host, added to a high degree of rudeness while off-camera. Some of his bloopers both on and off-camera have became internet phenomena in websites such as YouTube.

In football events, he is usually supported by the former referees José Roberto Wright and Arnaldo Cézar Coelho, and former footballers Walter Casagrande and Paulo Roberto Falcão.

Cala a boca Galvão (Internet meme)

Cala a boca Galvão ("Shut up Galvão", in Portuguese) was a global Internet meme spread by Brazilians via Twitter on 11 June 2010 called by The New York Times "one of history's most successful cyberpranks." The phenomenon started during the opening ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Bueno, the host and play-by-play announcer for Rede Globo's national broadcast of the World Cup, was met with criticism from Brazilian viewers and "Cala a boca Galvão" started to spread on Brazilian Twitter pages. After the expression became the most popular Twitter topic in Brazil, Brazilians increased the number of posts containing those words both as a joke and a protest against Bueno.

International reaction from non-Brazilians was generally confusing, with first hoaxes claiming it was a movement to save a Brazilian bird mostly because of the similarity between the words Galvão and Gavião, Portuguese for hawk. A fake Twitter account named galvaoinstitute was set up as a joke for non-Portuguese speakers to repeat the sentence "CALA BOCA GALVÃO", claiming US$0.10 would be donated to save the bird each time those words were replied. Later, a YouTube video was uploaded in order to support the hoax.

A second wave of jokes started when Brazilian users claimed "Cala Boca Galvão" was a new single by Lady Gaga aimed at saving those birds. Some Brazilian websites added lyrics of the fake song, which repeats "Cala a boca Galvão" in a way similar to the chorus of Gaga's song "Alejandro" mixed with lines about saving birds. Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho played another joke by claiming that "CALA BOCA GALVÃO" was a homeopathic medicine also known as "SILENTIUM GALVANUS", making a reference for the commentator to stay quiet.

On 13 June 2010, the hoax gained magnificent proportions when Brazilian Twitter users started tweeting messages containing the expression "CALA BOCA GALVÃO" along with the name of several Brazilian personalities such as Gisele Bündchen, Diogo Nogueira, Ana Maria Braga and Fernanda Souza. The expression "Pobres Australianos" ("Poor Australians" in Portuguese, as a reference to the 4-0 defeat to Germany in the World Cup) was also added to the hoax when Brazilians claimed it was another single by Lady Gaga aimed at saving the fictional Galvão bird.

At 01:20 UTC on 14 June 2010, the top 7 Global Trending topics on Twitter referred to the Cala a boca Galvão meme, topping expressions related to the World Cup and NBA Finals which were happening at that time. Brazilian Twitter users soon began spreading another tweet which reads "CALA BOCA GALVÃO is the biggest internal joke in history. A whole country [Brazil] is laughing and the rest of the world doesn't understand anything." This last tweet, re-tweeted by Brazilians, helped to keep the meme active and on the top of the Trending Topics.

The global proportion of this hoax resulted in articles written all over the world, in several different languages, explaining the joke played by Brazilians from blogs to El País and The New York Times. Wikipedia itself was also included in the hoax when pages Galvao bird and Cala-boca-galvao were created to support the fictional bird Galvão. The two articles were promptly deleted. The increased number of Internet users interested in the expression also resulted in an increased popularity of Flash-based minigames aimed at "shutting up" the character representing Galvão Bueno. Even Jimmy Wales, co-founder and promoter of Wikipedia, quoted the internet meme during his summit at ''info@trends'', in São Paulo.

During Brazil's first match in the World Cup, against North Korea, a sign displaying "CALA BOCA GALVÃO!" could be seen in the first minutes of the game, and was caught by the official broadcasting. It was soon removed, though.

Taglines

''Bem, amigos da Rede Globo...'' ''(Well, my friends of Rede Globo...)''

''Haja coração!'' ''(You need a strong heart!)''

''De cara pro vento'' ''(Face to face with the wind)''

''Ronaldinho!!'' (Spoken with a long trilled "R")

''A física não permite, Arnaldo Cézar Coelho!'' ''(The laws of physics don't allow it, Arnaldo Cézar Coelho!)''

''Ayrton, Ayrton, Ayrton, AYRTON SENNA DO BRASIL!!!'' (Substituting the names of other Grand Prix-winning Brazilian drivers when appropriate).

References

External links

Campaign

Category:1950 births Category:Association football commentators Category:Football people in Brazil Category:Formula One people Category:Living people Category:Motorsport announcers Category:Brazilian motorsport people Category:People from Rio de Janeiro (city) Category:Brazilian people of Spanish descent Category:Brazilian television presenters

it:Galvão Bueno ja:ガルヴァオン・ブエノ pt:Galvão Bueno