Pelé

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Pelé
Personal information
Full name	Edison Arantes do Nascimento
Date of birth	October 23, 1940 (1940-10-23)
Place of birth	Três Corações, Brazil
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Forward
Youth clubs
1952–1956	Bauru AC
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1956–1974 1975–1977	Santos New York Cosmos	605 (589) 064 0(37)
National team
1957–1971	Brazil	092 0(77)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Edison Arantes do Nascimento, KBE (born October 23, 1940 in Três Corações, Brazil), best known by his nickname Pelé, is a former Brazilian football player, rated by many as the greatest footballer of all time. He was given the title of Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee.

In his native Brazil, Pelé is hailed as a national hero. He is known for his accomplishments and contributions to the game of football, in addition to being officially declared the football ambassador of the world by FIFA and a national treasure by the Brazilian government. 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). He is also a member of the American National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Spotted by football star Waldemar de Brito, Pelé began playing for Santos Futebol Clube at 15 and his national team at 16, and won his first World Cup at 17. Despite numerous offers from European clubs, the current economic conditions and Brazilian Football regulations benefited Santos FC, thus enabling them to keep Pelé for almost two decades until his semi-retirement in 1974. Pelé played as an inside forward, striker, and what later became known as the playmaker position. Pelé's technique and natural athleticism have been universally praised; he was renowned for his excellent dribbling and passing, his paced, powerful shot, exceptional heading ability, and prolific goalscoring.

He is the all-time top scorer in the history of the Brazil national football team and is the only footballer to be a part of three World Cup-winning teams. He was named part of the 1962 squad but due to injury he did not receive a winner's medal, however In November 2007 FIFA announced that he would be awarded the 1962 medal retrospectively, making him the only player in the world to have three World Cup gold medals.

Since his full retirement in 1977 Pelé has been an ambassador for football and has also undertaken various acting roles and commercial ventures.

Early life

He was born in Três Corações, Brazil, the son of a Fluminense footballer Dondinho (born João Ramos do Nascimento) and Maria Celeste Arantes. He was named after the American inventor Thomas Edison, and 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 "Pilé". He originally disliked the nickname, being suspended from school for punching the classmate that coined it, 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, the word has no known meaning, although it does resemble the Irish language word peile, meaning football.

Growing up in poverty in Bauru, São Paulo, Pelé earned extra money by shining shoes at the Bauru Athletic Club on match days. Taught to play by his father, whose own professional football career with Atlético Mineiro ended prematurely due to a knee injury, 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, several members of the Ameriquinha team, including Pelé, were invited to join the Baquinho boy's team to be managed by former Brazilian international Waldemar de Brito, who played in the 1934 World Cup in Italy.

At the age of 15 and a half, he joined the Santos FC junior team. He played for one season before joining the senior team.

Club career

Santos

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

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

Pelé made his debut for Santos in September 7, 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 offered massive fees 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.

On November 19, 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 rivals Juventus on August 2, 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), a goal against Fluminense at the Maracanã which was regarded as so spectacular that a plaque was commissioned with a dedication to the most beautiful goal in the history of the Maracanã.

In 1967, the two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch Pelé play an exhibition game in Lagos.

New York Cosmos

After the 1972 season (his 17th with Santos), Pelé retired from Brazilian club football although he continued to occasionally suit up for Santos in official competitive matches. Two years later, he came out of semi-retirement to sign with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1975 season. Though well past his prime at this point, Pelé is credited with significantly increasing public awareness and interest in soccer in the United States. (Previously, a video clip of Pelé scoring with a bicycle kick for the Brazilian National Team was part of the opening video montage of the popular sports TV series ABC's Wide World of Sports and was probably many Americans' initial viewing of the sport.) He led the Cosmos to the 1977 NASL championship, in his third and final season with the club.

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

National team career

Pelé's first international match was a 2–1 defeat against Argentina on July 7, 1957. In that match, he scored his first goal for Brazil, three months before his 17th birthday.

1958 World Cup

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

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

1962 World Cup

In the first match of the 1962 World Cup, against Mexico, Pelé assisted the first goal and then scored the final goal to go up 2–0 after a run past four defenders. 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 had a good performance in the tournament; it was, however, Garrincha, who would take the leading role and carried Brazil to their second World Cup title.

1966 World Cup

The 1966 tournament was remembered for its excessive physical play, and Pelé was one of the players affected by such play. After becoming the first player ever to score in three World Cups, with a direct free kick against Bulgaria, he had to rest, due to fatigue, for the match against Hungary, which Brazil lost 1–3. He then faced Portugal, and several violent tackles by the Portuguese defenders caused him to leave the match and the tournament. Brazil lost that match and were eliminated in the first round of the World Cup for the first time since 1934. After the tournament, Pelé declared that he did not wish to play in the World Cup again.

1970 World Cup

When Pelé was called to the national team in early 1969, he first refused, but then accepted and played in six World Cup qualifying matches, scoring six goals. The 1970 tournament 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, Djalma Santos, and Gilmar had already retired, but the team, with Pelé, Rivelino, Jairzinho, Gérson, Tostão, and Clodoaldo, is widely considered one of the greatest football teams ever.

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

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

Pelé's last international match was on July 18, 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 went on to win three World Cups. Brazil never lost a match with both Pelé and Garrincha on the field.

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.

Honours

Club

• Santos (Official Tournaments)
  • Campeonato Paulista: 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1973
  • Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1959, 1963 and 1964
  • Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa (Taça de Prata): 1968
  • Taça Brasil: 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965
  • Copa Libertadores: 1962 and 1963
  • Intercontinental Cup: 1962 and 1963
  • South-American Recopa: 1968
• New York Cosmos
  • NASL Champions: 1977

Country

• Brazil
  • FIFA World Cup: 1958, 1962, 1970
  • Roca Cup: 1957, 1963

The tally of 32 team trophies makes him, together with Vítor Baía, the player with most career titles.

Individual

• Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee: 1999

In December 2000, Pelé was named Footballer of the Century by FIFA. The award was 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 soccer experts to decide the winner of the award. Maradona was instead awarded the title of FIFA Internet Player of the Century. Allegations that the Internet poll had been bombarded by Argentine fans still remain to this day.

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

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

In 2005 Pelé won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.

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 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.

Club	Season	Domestic League Competitions								Domestic League Sub-total			Domestic Cup		International Club Competitions				Official Total			Total inc. Friendlies
		SPS		RSPS		T. de Prata		Camp. Brasil.					T. Brasil		Copa Libertadores		Intercontinental Cup
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals		Apps	Goals
Santos	1956	0*	0*							0*	0*								2*	2*		2*	2*
	1957	14+15*	19+17*	9	5					38*	41*								29*	16*		67*	57*
	1958	38	58	8	8					46	66								14*	14*		60*	80*
	1959	32	45	7	6					39	51		4*	2*					40*	47*		83*	100*
	1960	30	33	3	0					33	33		0	0	0	0	0	0	34*	26*		67*	59*
	1961	26	47	7	8					33	55		5*	7	0	0	0	0	36*	48*		74*	110*
	1962	26	37	0	0					26	37		5*	2*	4*	4*	2	5	13*	14*		50*	62*
	1963	19	22	8	14					27	36		4*	8	4*	5*	1	2	16	16*		52*	67*
	1964	21	34	4	3					25	37		6*	7	0*	0*	0	0	16*	13*		47*	57*
	1965	30	49	7	5					37	54		4*	2*	7*	8	0	0	18*	33*		66*	97*
	1966	14	13	0*	0*					14*	13*		5*	2*	0	0	0	0	19*	16*		38*	31*
	1967	18	17			14*	9*			32*	26*		0	0	0	0	0	0	32*	26*		65*	56*
	1968	21	17			17*	11*			38*	28*		0	0	0	0	0	0	38*	28*		73*	55*
	1969	25	26			12*	12*			37*	38*				0	0	0	0	37*	38*		61*	57*
	1970	15	7			13*	4*			28*	11*				0	0	0	0	28*	11*		54*	47*
	1971	19	8					21	1	40	9				0	0	0	0	40	9		72*	29*
	1972	20	9					16	5	36	14				0	0	0	0	36	14		74*	50*
	1973	19	11					30	19	49	30				0	0	0	0	49	30		66*	52*
	1974	10	1					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.

Club	Season	NASL		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
NY Cosmos	1975	9	5	14*	10*	23*	15*
	1976	24	15	18*	11*	42*	26*
	1977	31	17	11*	6*	42*	23*
	All	64	37	43*	27*	107*	64*

Some historical perspective

• Pele's 1281 goals are recognized by FIFA as the highest total achieved by a professional footballer. All of these goals have been checked by more than one recognized statistic institution. Pele played between 1957 and 1973 not just in official championships but also in short term International Tournaments between European and South American teams – a very common event in 1960s. However some critics claim that the goals scored in those tournaments should not count because they consider the short term tournaments to be "friendlies".

• Pelé is in third place on the list of all-time top goalscorers in international matches between National Teams; in 92 appearances for the Brazil national football team, he scored 77 goals. He is in fourth place behind Ronaldo, Gerd Müller, and Just Fontaine on the list of goalscorers in World Cup matches, with 12 goals. He has been part of three World Cup-winning teams, although he did not play in the 1962 final due to injury and did not receive a medal. He is one of only two players to have scored in four World Cups (the other being Uwe Seeler, who did it in the same four tournaments). Pelé is one of only four footballers to have achieved the feat of scoring in two different World Cup final matches, sharing that honour with Paul Breitner, Vavá, and Zinedine Zidane. He is one of five players to have scored twice from direct free kicks in World Cups (The others are Rivelino, Teófilo Cubillas, Bernard Genghini, and David Beckham).

• Due to the sheer size of Brazil and the problems and costs related to air travel at the time, until 1959 there was nothing that could be called a National Football Tournament between the best teams from across the whole of Brazil. Generally the Brazilian football season was occupied first by state championships (between teams of the same state), followed by the Torneio Rio-São Paulo, a competition between the teams from the two strongest states in the country, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. And last but not least, from 1959, by the national team competition. This league system provided all the players (i.e., no foreign-based players) for the 1958, 1962 and 1970 Brazil World Cup Champions.

• Given the global economic conditions and the football regulations at the time (especially in Brazil) the only players who left the Brazilian leagues for the European ones were usually those who could not get a regular place in one of the top teams or who were at the end of their careers. Sometimes a great player who was eclipsed by a more talented footballer in his position, in an era when substitutions during the matches weren’t not allowed, made this change. Current regulations restricting players from playing in the World Cup for more than one country were not yet introduced. For this reason, some argue that Brazil had the world's strongest league during the years of Pelé's career. It must be added that contrary to most European national championships – which had only two or three leading teams – there were 11 direct competitors for the national cup: Santos, Botafogo, Palmeiras, Flamengo, Corinthians, São Paulo FC, Vasco, Fluminense, Bahia, Cruzeiro and Atlético. Despite this, Santos won it five times in a row.

• At that time the Santos team spent a third or sometimes almost half of the year in the São Paulo State League, even when running for the South American Teams Cup or others international tournaments. Before Pelé's era the cup of the São Paulo League was monopolized by the so-called "Iron Trio", the three most prestigious teams of São Paulo city, the capital of São Paulo: Corinthians, Palmeiras and São Paulo FC.

• Some of the best players were spread among teams all across Brazil, for example Didi, Garrincha and Jairzinho played in the Rio de Janeiro League, Tostão, Piazza and Dario played in the Minas Gerais League and others like Carlos Alberto, Zito, Pepe and Gilmar played with Pelé for Santos. There were many others playing for Santos' rivals in the São Paulo league like Rivelino and later Garrincha by Corinthians; Gérson, Pedro Rocha and Pablo Forlán by São Paulo FC; Félix, Djalma Santos and Zé Maria by Portuguesa and Leão, Luís Pereira, Leivinha and Ademir da Guia by Palmeiras just to mention a few. All of these great teams and players played against Pelé between 1957 and 1974.

After football

The most notable area of Pelé's life since football is his ambassadorial work for various bodies. In 1992, Pelé was appointed a United Nations ambassador for ecology and the environment. He was awarded Brazil's Gold Medal for outstanding services to the sport in 1995, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso appointed him to the position of "Extraordinary Minister for Sport" and he was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. During this time he proposed legislation to reduce corruption in Brazilian football, which became known as the Pelé law. Pelé left his position in 2001 after he was accused of involvement in a corruption scandal. In 1997 he was given an honorary British knighthood.

Pelé scouted for Premier League 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, Michael Caine, and Sylvester Stallone, in the 1981 film Escape to Victory, about an attempted escape from a World War II Nazi POW Camp. Pelé was one of the first black persons to be featured on the cover of Life magazine, and was the first sports figure featured in a video game with the Atari 2600 game Pelé's Soccer.

Pelé signed a major autobiographical book deal in 2006, resulting in a giant-sized, 45 cm × 35 cm, 2,500 unit limited-edition collectible "Pelé", created by UK luxury publishers, Gloria, as the first-ever football "big book". In the same period, Pelé received a lifetime achievement award from the BBC and in June 2006, helped inaugurate the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, alongside supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Pelé has also helped to promote viagra and raise the awareness of impotency.

Pelé was guest of honour at the world's oldest football club, Sheffield F.C.'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.

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)