“God gave me the gift of playing soccer, and I got the rest because I took care of myself and prepared myself.”
This is one of the memorable phrases of who is considered the best player in the world in history, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, a captivating name like his nicknames: Pelé, the Black Pearl and O Rei.
And knowing that when he was a child his mother Celeste punished him if she found out that he was running after a ball.
“Later, don’t complain when your son dies of hunger,” the woman told Pelé’s father, João Ramos do Nascimento, better known as Dondinho, who was a member of Atlético Mineiro, but who at the age of 25, in his first game , after a clash against defender Augusto, injured his knee and was forced to permanently hang up his cleats in professional football.
But Pelé had better luck, and not only did his father see his dream of making sporting history reflected in him, but the whole world also managed to appreciate and enjoy a prodigy on the ball, whose qualities are still reproduced on video today, both For those who saw him play as well as for the new generations who want to find out why the Brazilian remains an icon worldwide. Pele or Maradona? Who was the best in history? It’s the endless debate. At different times, each one left a legacy, and the Brazilian, with his talent and charisma, without airs of grandeur and humbly keeping his feet on the ground, always recognized the talent of the Argentine and, incidentally, thanked those who supported him and they gave as the most best.
His professional debut
At the age of 15, exactly on September 7, 1956 against Cubatão, Pelé made his official debut as a professional and scored a goal.
That season he won his first titles, the Paulista Tournament, in which he also ended up being the top scorer for his club, Santos, in which he spent most of his career and made it great by winning nine Paulista Championships, three Rio Tournaments -São Paulo, six Brazilian Serie A Championships, two Libertadores Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one Intercontinental Champions Super Cup.
He caused such a sensation since his debut that in less than a year he was summoned by coach Vicente Feola to the Brazilian National Team, with whom he played for the first time on July 7, 1957 against Argentina at the Maracana stadium for the Julio Roca Cup. .
That day, the Brazilian team fell 2-1. The discount for the locals was from Pelé, who three days later, against the same opponent, and at the Pacaembú stadium, scored again in the 2-0 victory for his team.
From that moment on, the player began to earn the respect of his rivals, teammates and superiors, as well as the love of his country’s fans. A little later, in 1958, his international fame and admiration began to grow like foam when he won the World Cup, and it would not be the only one.
This was their presentations at the world’s biggest football party. His figures are his memorable ones.
1958
At just 17 years of age, Péle became the youngest player to win a World Cup. It was in Sweden-1958. In the final, precisely against the host team, Edson Arantes converted two of the goals with which Brazil won 5-2. During the tournament he scored six goals. The others were converted to Wales and France (3). He was named the best young player of that tournament.
1962
In the 1962 World Cup in Chile he played two games because he was injured, although he left his seal of quality. He scored one of the goals in Brazil’s 2-0 win over Mexico. He also made an assist in the tournament. He became, at the age of 21, the youngest two-time world champion in history. That year, his country defeated Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final.
1966
In the World Cup in England, Pelé was the victim of all kinds of fouls by defender Zhechev, and even so he scored one of the goals with which his team defeated Bulgaria 2-0 on their debut. For the next game against Hungary, the Brazilian coach Vicente Feola decided not to hire Pelé and his absence was noticeable, as the South American squad fell 3-1. In the third game, against Portugal, Brazil lost 3-1, in a match that is remembered for the honor of Pelé, who, receiving kicks, continued to play almost limping. His team did not pass the round.
1970
In the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, the Brazilian star Pelé was reunited with glory. In six games he scored four goals, one of them in the final that his team beat Italy 4-1, with other goals from figures like Gerson, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto.
It was the last World Cup for Pelé, who fell in love in that championship even with the so-called “best non-goal in history”. In that play, during the semifinal against Uruguay, Pelé received assistance from Tostao, the “King” deceived the goalkeeper, let the ball pass, made a diagonal outward, like a figure eight, defined, but the ball brushed past the stick.
1970 World Cup. He is the top scorer for the Brazilian team and Santos, with 77 and 474 scores respectively. In his career he scored 760 official goals, 541 in league championships, making him the top scorer in all of history.
After his retirement from football in 1977, he began a relatively successful career in film and music. His participation in the film Evasion or Victory (1981) stands out, along with his friend Bobby Moore and other great soccer players of the time, such as Paul Van Himst, Osvaldo Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna, along with renowned actors such as Michael Caine, Max Von Sydney or Sylvester Stallone. In the film, he was also in charge of designing the game choreographies for the match
On Sunday, July 18, 1971, Pelé officially said goodbye, as an active player, to the Brazilian national team, after 15 years of service to the prestige of soccer in that country.
He scored 77 goals with Brazil, being, to date, his country’s top scorer.
He played 91 games with his team.
3 World Cups Pelé achieved, the only player in history to have achieved it.
760 goals in 831 official matches.
474 annotations with Santos, his top scorer.