At the age of 83, one of the best football players in history, Pele, known for playing for the Brazilian national team, Santos and the American New York Cosmos, died. How the legendary Brazilian entered the history of football – in the material “RBC Sport”
Photo: Global Look Press
Edson Arantis do Nascimento, known as Pele, was born on October 23, 1940 in Tres Coracoins, Brazil. His father João Ramos, himself a former footballer, became his son’s first coach.
The name given to the boy at birth was symbolic. “My parents named me Edson, after Thomas Edison, because the light bulb came to our city just before I was born in 1940. They were so impressed that they decided to honor the inventor in this way, ”Pele wrote in his autobiography.
The nickname Pele appeared in the Brazilian in childhood – he himself does not exactly remember who exactly gave him it. “It sounds rather disappointing: no one knows for sure where the nickname Pele came from. It is complete nonsense, in Portuguese it means absolutely nothing, ”Pele recalled in his book.
As a teenager, Pele played for amateur and youth teams, then he got into the Bauru club, which was coached by ex-player of the Brazilian national team Valdemar de Brito, he later brought Pele to the Santos club. Pelé impressed the team’s head coach, Luis Alonso Pérez, and signed with the club in June 1956.
Already in September of the same year, that is, when Pele was not yet 16 years old, he first entered the field in a match against Corinthians and scored his first goal for Santos.
The youngest world champion in history
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Ten months after signing with Santos, Pelé was included in Brazil’s squad for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.
At the World Cup, the wunderkind made his debut in a match against the USSR national team (Brazil won – 2: 0), and the striker scored the first goal for the Wales team in the 1/4 finals. In the semi-finals, the Brazilians beat the French (5:2), and Pele scored three goals, becoming the youngest hat-trick in the history of the World Cup.
In the final of the tournament, Pele scored two goals against the hosts of the championship and helped his team win a crushing victory with a score of 5:2. 17-year-old Pele brought the first ever World Cup to Brazil and became the youngest champion in the history of world championships.
The only three-time world champion
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At the next World Cup in Chile, Pele was able to hit the opponents’ gate only once, but the Brazilians still managed to repeat their success and win a second title in a row. In the final match of the tournament, Czechoslovakia was beaten 3-1.
At the 1966 World Cup, the Brazilian was unable to fully express himself on the field due to injuries. But the 1970 World Cup again became a triumph not only for Pele personally, but for the whole team.
Pele scored four goals in the tournament, including in the final match against Italy (4:1). The striker was recognized as the best player of the tournament.
The Brazilian football players who won the World Cup for the third time received the right to keep it forever, and Pele became the only three-time world football champion in history.
Pele also scored the 100th goal of the Brazilian national team in Mexico for the entire time of its participation in the final tournaments of the world championships. He himself played 14 matches in these tournaments and scored 12 goals.
In total, Pele played 92 matches for the national team, in which he managed to hit the opponents’ gates 77 times.
King Santosa
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Pele won his first title with Santos in 1958, winning the national championship. He finished the tournament as the top scorer with 58 goals, which is still a record.
In 1960, Pelé scored 33 goals and won the championship again. In the same year, the team won the Brazilian Cup. Pele was the tournament’s top scorer with nine goals.
Two years later, Pele experienced his first international success while playing for Santos. In the 1962 Copa Libertadores, the Brazilians reached the final, where they defeated the Uruguayan Peñarol and became the owners of the main trophy of the tournament.
As the champion of South America, the Brazilian team took part in the Intercontinental Cup. In the final, Santos met with the Portuguese Benfica. In the first match, the Brazilians beat the “eagles” with a score of 3: 2, Pelé chalked up a double. In the second game, he already scored three goals and helped his team defeat opponents with a score of 5:2.
As winners of the previous Copa Libertadores, Santos automatically qualified for the semi-finals of next year’s tournament.
The Brazilian team was again able to reach the final, where they beat the Argentine Boca Juniors. Santos won the tournament for the second time in a row. The team also took the Intercontinental Cup again, beating the Italian Milan.
In 1964, Pele managed to make history again: the legendary Brazilian scored eight goals against Botafogo. This is a Brazilian championship record.
From 1956 to 1974 he scored 1091 goals in the team. Together with the legend, the team won the Copa Brazil five times in a row, the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup twice each.
Trip to America
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After finishing playing for Santos and the national team, in 1975 Pele signed a contract with the American professional club New York Cosmos (from the North American Football League, NASL) – this decision became the biggest sensation in the world of sports. One of the reasons for the transition was the deplorable financial situation of Pele.
By signing a contract with Cosmos, Pele became the highest paid athlete in the world at that time. The Brazilian’s salary was $1.4 million a year. This money was enough to pay off debts.
Also in 1977, the team was replenished by the world champion in the German national team Franz Beckenbauer.
In the last season of his playing career, Pelé helped the Cosmos win the NASL. In total, during his performances in the United States, he scored 37 goals in 64 matches.
In 1975, a week before the start of the Lebanese Civil War, Pelé played in a Cosmos friendly against the Lebanese Football League All-Star team. On the day of the game, 40,000 spectators came to the stadium to watch the Brazilian play.
On October 1, 1977, Pelé played a farewell match, including one half each for Cosmos and Santos, and ended his football career.
One of the best scorers in football history
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In total, Pelé scored 1,389 goals in a 21-year career in professional football. Only the Czech-Austrian striker Josef Bitsan (1468) and the German Gerd Müller (1461) have more.
Another player who managed to cross the mark of 1 thousand goals in his professional career is the Hungarian Ferenc Puskas: he has 1139 goals.
The most popular book in Brazil and its own brand of coffee
The success story has influenced many Brazilians. After the release of the autobiographical book “I am Pele”, people went to study just to read it. For this, the Ministry of Education awarded Pele a commemorative medal.
After completing his career, the footballer went into business. In the 1990s, he became the face of the Cacique coffee company, which launched Café Pele instant coffee.
UN and UNESCO Ambassador
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Pele was actively involved in social activities: he was a goodwill ambassador to the UN and UNICEF. In the 1990s he also served as Minister of Sports of Brazil.
He promoted the need for education and sports. Pele hoped to bring football back to its original spirit and lamentedthat entertainment and commerce have become important on the field.
“Golden Ball” and the title of knight
Pele and former FIFA President Joseph Blatter
During his life, Pele became the owner of many titles. The International Olympic Committee and FIFA recognized him as the best football player of the 20th century, and the British Queen Elizabeth II granted him the title of knight commander. In 2014, he won the honorary FIFA Golden Ball.