Pelé (1940 - 2022) was a Brazilian professional footballer, regarded by many players, coaches and historians of the game as its greatest exponent. [1] He remains the only player to have won three FIFA World Cups, in 1958, 1962 and 1970, and spent almost his entire club career with Santos before a final spell with the New York Cosmos. [2] In 2000 FIFA named him Player of the Century.
Early life
He was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on 23 October 1940 in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, and grew up in Bauru, São Paulo state, in poverty. His father, Dondinho, was a footballer whose career was cut short by injury. The nickname Pelé, whose origin he said he never understood, was given to him at school and he initially disliked it. [1]
Unable to afford a ball, he practised with grapefruit and with socks stuffed with rags. He was discovered by the former Brazil international Waldemar de Brito, who brought him to Santos FC in 1956 at the age of fifteen.
Santos
Pelé made his senior debut for Santos before his sixteenth birthday and scored in his first match. He played for the club until 1974, winning six Brazilian championships, ten São Paulo state titles, and in 1962 and 1963 both the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup. [2]
Santos toured extensively during these years, and the club became one of the most widely watched teams in the world, in large part because of his presence. He was an all-round forward: quick, two-footed, strong in the air despite his height, and an unusually effective creator as well as a scorer. [3]
World Cups
Pelé was seventeen at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, where he scored twice in the final against the hosts and became the youngest player to win the tournament. [1] Injury limited him to the opening matches of the 1962 tournament in Chile, which Brazil won without him, and in 1966 in England he was repeatedly fouled out of the competition as Brazil were eliminated in the group stage.
The 1970 side in Mexico, in which he played alongside Carlos Alberto, Gérson, Tostão, Rivellino and Jairzinho, is frequently described as the finest international team ever assembled. Pelé scored in the final against Italy and assisted the fourth goal in a 4-1 victory, giving Brazil permanent possession of the Jules Rimet trophy. [2] He scored 77 goals in 92 appearances for Brazil.
New York Cosmos and later life
After retiring from Santos, Pelé signed in 1975 for the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, a move that substantially raised the profile of the sport in the United States. He played there until 1977, retiring after a farewell match between the Cosmos and Santos. [1]
Santos credits him with 1,091 goals in 1,116 matches, and his own count of goals in all matches, including friendlies and military service games, exceeded 1,200. [3]
In retirement he worked as a UNESCO and UNICEF goodwill ambassador, appeared in film and advertising, and served as Brazil's Extraordinary Minister for Sport from 1995 to 1998, promoting legislation on player transfer rights known as the Pelé Law. [4] He received the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award and an honorary knighthood from the United Kingdom.
Death and legacy
Pelé died on 29 December 2022 in São Paulo, aged 82, after treatment for colon cancer. Brazil declared three days of national mourning. [1] His name has entered Portuguese usage as a synonym for exceptional quality, and he remains the standard against which subsequent footballers are measured.
