Pelé

Pelé (born October 23, 1940, Três Corações, Brazil—died December 29, 2022, São Paulo) was a Brazilian football (soccer) player who is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers in history and one of the sport’s first global icons. Emerging as a teenage prodigy at the 1958 FIFA World Cup, he helped establish Brazil as a dominant force in global football. Sometimes called “Pérola Negra” (“Black Pearl”) and “O Rei” (“The King”), Pelé became a Brazilian national hero. After Brazil’s victory at the 1958 World Cup, he was declared a national treasure by the Brazilian government to discourage large offers from European clubs and ensure that he would remain in Brazil. Renowned for his flair, creativity, and prolific goal scoring, Pelé was probably the most famous and possibly the best-paid athlete in the world in his time. He was part of the Brazilian national teams that won three World Cup championships (1958, 1962, and 1970), the most by any footballer.

Early life

Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and spent most of his childhood in Bauru, São Paulo state, where he was raised in poverty. His nickname Pelé reportedly originated in his childhood and had no known meaning in Portuguese. As a child he used to sell tea to help support his family. Despite the hardship of his circumstances, he displayed an exceptional talent for football, particularly in street games. His father, João Ramos do Nascimento (nicknamed Dondinho), played a major role in instilling a passion for the sport in his son. Pelé often played with improvised balls made from socks because his family could not afford proper equipment. While honing his football skills in Bauru, Pelé attracted the attention of former Brazil international footballer Waldemar de Brito, who recognized Pelé’s talent and helped arrange a move to the Santos Football Club in 1956.

Club career

Pelé joined the Santos Football Club at age 15 and quickly emerged as one of Brazil’s brightest young stars. With Pelé leading the attack, Santos won several regional and national championships, including nine São Paulo league championships and five Taça Brasil trophies between 1961 and 1965. Taça Brasil was the main national football championship in Brazil at the time. In 1962 and 1963, Santos won both the Libertadores Cup and the Intercontinental Club Cup, establishing itself as one of the most dominant clubs of the era.

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Pelé’s electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals made him a star around the world. Between the late 1950s and 1970s, Santos undertook numerous international tours across North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, with Pelé’s performances drawing worldwide attention. During these tours Santos faced major clubs such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and AC Milan. In 1967 he and his team traveled to Nigeria, where a reported 48-hour ceasefire in that country’s civil war was called to allow all to watch the great player in action. On November 19, 1969, in his 909th first-class match, he scored his 1,000th goal. Pelé left Santos in 1974 after announcing his retirement. He signed a three-year, $7 million contract with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. His arrival helped popularize the sport in the United States, and he retired after leading the Cosmos to the league championship in 1977.

International career

Pelé made his international debut for Brazil in 1957 at age 16 and the following year appeared in his first FIFA World Cup, in Sweden. The 17-year-old Pelé missed Brazil’s first two group-stage matches against Austria and England. He made his World Cup debut against the Soviet Union, in Brazil’s final group stage match, and immediately impressed, striking the post early in the game and helping create a goal in Brazil’s 2–0 victory. His first World Cup goal came in the quarterfinal over Wales, and he scored a hat trick in the semifinal in a 5–2 win over France. He also scored two goals in the championship game, where Brazil defeated Sweden 5–2 and won its first World Cup. The first of those goals would turn out to be one of the most iconic goals in the history of the game. Pelé controlled a long pass in the penalty box, evading one defender, and then lobbed the ball over the second defender to strike a volley that found the back of the net.

At the 1962 World Cup Pelé tore a thigh muscle in the second match and had to sit out the remainder of the tournament. Nonetheless, Brazil claimed its second World Cup title, giving Pelé his second World Cup. Rough play and injuries turned the 1966 World Cup into a disaster for both Brazil and Pelé, as the team went out in the first round, and he contemplated retiring from World Cup play. Pelé scored one goal each in the 1962 and 1966 tournaments. Returning in 1970 for one more World Cup, he teamed with young stars such as Jairzinho and Rivelino in a Brazil team widely regarded as one of the greatest in football history. Pelé was involved in several of the tournaments most celebrated moments, including a play against Uruguay goalkeeper Ladislao Mazurkiewicz in the semifinal, when Pelé let the ball roll past the goalkeeper, circled around him without touching the ball, and narrowly sent the shot wide. In the final against Italy, he scored the opening goal and provided two assists, helping Brazil claim its third title and permanent ownership of the Jules Rimet Trophy. Pelé scored 4 goals in the 1970 tournament and finished his World Cup career having scored 12 goals in 14 games.

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Legacy

Pelé helped transform football into a global sport and became one of the world’s first international athletic superstars. His success with Brazil and Santos helped popularize Brazilian football’s expressive style of play, often called jogo bonito (“beautiful game”). Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential players in football history, he was credited with 1,279 goals in 1,363 matches, a Guinness World Record-recognized total that also made him one of the sport’s greatest scorers.

He was the recipient of the International Peace Award in 1978. In 1980 he was named Athlete of the Century by the French sports publication L’Equipe, and he received the same honor in 1999 from the International Olympic Committee. In 2000 FIFA jointly named Pelé and Argentine football player Diego Maradona Player of the Century.

In 2014 the Pelé Museum opened in Santos, Brazil, preserving memorabilia from his life and career. In addition to his accomplishments in sports, he published several best-selling autobiographies and starred in multiple successful documentary and feature films, including in the 1981 war film Victory (also released as Escape to Victory in some countries) alongside Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine. He also composed numerous musical pieces, including the soundtrack for the film Pelé (1977). Pelé died on December 29, 2022, in São Paulo at age 82.