Pele

Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Três Corações, Minas Gerais, October 23, 1940-São Paulo, December 29, 2022), better known as Pelé, was a Brazilian soccer player who played as a striker. Nicknamed O Rei, he is recognized by many specialists, former soccer players, and fans as one of the best soccer players and athletes of all time, being described by FIFA as "the greatest of all". In 1999, Olympic Magazine, the official organ of the Olympic Movement, distinguished him as one of the five "best athletes of the century" XX", being the only footballer to achieve this recognition. In 2016 the International Olympic Committee, on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, awarded him the Olympic Order. In 2000 he was chosen as the "best footballer of the 20th century" with 73% in a vote carried out by the FIFA Football Committee and subscribers to FIFA Magazine, by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, as well as in a survey answered by the Ballon d'Or winners.

Pelé began his professional career in 1956 with Santos, a club where he played until 1974 and with which he won one title in the Intercontinental Champions Super Cup, two in the Intercontinental Cup, two in the Copa Libertadores de América, six from the Brasileirão, four from the Rio-São Paulo Tournament and ten from the Paulista Championship. He is the top scorer in the history of the São Paulo team with 643 goals in 659 games, the second highest number for the same club in official matches; adding the unofficial matches in Santos, he scored 1,091 goals in 1,116 games. In 1975 He signed for the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL), where he won a league title. He made his debut with the Brazilian national team in 1957 at the age of sixteen and is, together with Neymar, the top scorer of the Seleção with 77 goals. He coined the term "jogo bonito" to designate the style that Brazil practiced in the years that he was a member of his team and played in four World Cups, of which he was champion in 1958, 1962 and 1970, being the footballer who played the most times and the most young man has obtained it. He scored a total of twelve goals in World Cups and was chosen as the best player in 1970 and the best young player in 1958. In 1959 he reached second place in the Copa América in his only participation in the competition. He retired from soccer in 1977. His 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, including friendlies, are recognized as a Guinness World Record. official records, which he considers a world record for the 20th century, while according to official FIFA records he was surpassed by Josef Bican with 805 goals in the same century. Other records, such as that of the RSSSF, have computed up to 778 goals in official matches. His famous goals include the goal with the four hats and the target goal.

After his retirement as a player, he became an actor and singer. He was named Citizen of the World by the United Nations (UN) in 1977, Ambassador for Ecology and the Environment by the UN in 1992, Ambassador of Education, Science, Culture and Good Wishes of Unesco in 1994, Extraordinary Minister of Sports for the Brazilian government between 1994 and 1998, Knight of Honor of the British Empire in 1997 and Ambassador of Sport at the World Economic Forum in 2006. In 2004 FIFA commissioned him to draw up the list of the "125 best living footballers" for the celebration of his centenary. Despite not having won the Ballon d'Or in his career, which at that time only Europeans could compete for, France Football magazine awarded him an honorary one for his great career at the 2013 award gala In 2010 he was named honorary president of the refounded Cosmos. In 2020 he was included as an attacking midfielder in the historic Ballon d'Or Dream Team.

Biography

His parents were João Ramos do Nascimento Dondinho and María Celeste Arantes. El Mineiro hit his knee, after a collision with defender Juvenal, and tore his ligaments. He was hired by BAC, so they moved to Baurú, where economic pressures always happened. Pelé saw his father cry after the "Maracanazo" of the 1950 Soccer World Cup and promised him that he would win the title, so he worked hard to achieve it. He had his compatriot Zizinho as an idol and was a fan of Vasco da Gama, which included the generation known as "The Victory Express".

Dico, as he was known in his childhood, created a team with his neighborhood friends that they called Ameriquinha, which won the city tournament. After that he went to the lower divisions of the Baquinho team, where Dondinho played and was coached by Waldemar de Brito, an international with Brazil in the 1934 World Cup. Around those years he played futsal for a while at Radium. Waldemar de Brito helped him perfect his game and convinced his mother, who did not see soccer as a profession, to give up her job at a shoe factory, where she earned a salary of $2 a day, and her home. to go play for Santos de São Paulo.

Sports career

Saints (1956-1974)

Upon his arrival at Santos, he entered the lower categories, although he trained on occasions with the first team. Despite having a good performance, they required him to improve his physical complexion because he was very thin. He made his first appearance for the Santos first team on September 7, 1956 against Corinthians de Santo André in a friendly match in which he scored a goal.

In 1957 he established himself in the first team. He played his first official match with Santos on April 26, 1957 against São Paulo in a match of the Rio-São Paulo Tournament. He scored a goal in his team's 3-1 victory. Santos was champion of the tournament, where Pelé scored five goals, only surpassed by Waldo Machado (13), José Altafini Mazzola (7) and José Lázaro Pinga (6). In the Paulista Championship of that year, Santos finished runner-up after losing a crucial match on November 17 against São Paulo 6-2 with a masterful performance by the star of the Soberano: Zizinho. Pelé achieved the title of top scorer in the championship that year with 36 goals. He finished his first full season as a professional with a total of 41 goals in 38 games.

Pelé was already well known in the São Paulo environment, but not yet at a national level. This changed after a tournament held at the Maracana Stadium, when a tournament was organized between several Brazilian teams and some Europeans. Santos and Vasco da Gama formed a team, which included Pelé. In his debut game against Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses of Portugal, he scored three goals, the first hat-trick of his career. He also played against Dinamo Zagreb of the then Yugoslavia, and the locals Flamengo and São Paulo, scoring a goal in each game.

With the departure of Emanuele Del Vecchio to Milan, Pelé consolidated himself as a starter at Santos. In 1958 he scored 58 goals in 38 games, helping Santos win the Paulista Tournament. In 1959 they lost this tournament at the hands of Palmeiras, although they won the Rio-São Paulo Tournament.

When he turned 18, Pelé had to do military service. Because of this, 1959 was a hectic year for Pelé in football. He played 103 matches for five different teams: Santos, the Brazilian team, the barracks team, the army team and a team of São Paulo figures. He played 2 games in less than 24 hours nine times and once played 3 games in less than 48 hours. With Santos he went on tour in 1959 playing 22 games in almost 14 countries in less than 6 weeks with a balance of 13 wins, 5 draws and 4 losses. For his barracks he won two tournaments: that of the Santos barracks, and that of the São Paulo barracks. For the army, he participated in the 1959 South American Military Championship in the final against the Argentine army. In this match he received the first ejection of his career for assaulting an opponent. After finishing his military service, Santos won the Paulista Tournament three times in a row (1960, 1961 and 1962) and Pelé was the top scorer in these championships.

Santos began to cement their fame as Os Santásticos with players like Gilmar, Mauro, Mengálvio, Coutinho, Pepe and Pelé himself. In 1961 the team achieved its first Taça Brasil title (the current Brazilian Serie A Championship) and managed to qualify for the first time to play the American Champions Cup the following year. Pelé managed to recover to play the tiebreaker match of the 1962 American Champions Cup final against Alberto Spencer's Peñarol. In the first leg in Montevideo, Santos won 1-2. Surprisingly, Peñarol defeated Santos 3-2 as a visitor, forcing a third game. The tiebreaker game was played in a neutral field, in this case Buenos Aires. Santos won 3-0 and Pelé scored twice, making Santos the first Brazilian team to win the Copa Libertadores. This gave them the right to face off for the Intercontinental Cup against the Portuguese from Benfica of Eusebio, Mário Coluna, José Aguas and Simoes among others. The first game was played at the Maracaná Stadium, since Santos wanted to have one more field big to accommodate more public and to be able to make the game flow more. Pelé scored twice and Coutinho another for a hard-fought 3-2 victory. On the return leg in Lisbon, Pelé established himself as the best soccer player of the moment by giving a soccer recital together with his team, managing to beat Benfica 5-2 with 4 goals from the King. Thus, Pelé was once again the same as always: the shining star of Brazil's Santos.

I fought with the Saints in 1963.

Although Pelé was once again the same player as always, there were things that were changing with respect to his rivals. At first they no longer looked at it as an interesting novelty, but as a powerful rival that had to be defeated. And second, in the World Cup in Chile a method was popularized that would reach its peak in the World Cup in England in 1966: force soccer. This method consisted of marking a player with aggressive tactics, and if they fouled it didn't matter. Pelé did not suffer from this problem in Chile, but since 1963 he would begin to understand that a new football concept wanted to predominate over the others. The first time he faced this was in Santos' second consecutive Copa Libertadores final in 1963 against Boca Juniors. The match was played at the La Bombonera Stadium. The Argentines' marking was so hard that a player ripped Pelé's pants, for which he had to change them.Not long after, Boca took the lead. A few minutes later Pelé enabled Coutinho who equalized. And then Pelé scored the game-winner from Coutinho's pass. Thus, Santos was consecrated for the second time as champion of America.

For the Intercontinental Cup, they would face AC Milan led by Gianni Rivera, Giovanni Trapattoni and their compatriot Amarildo. The first game was at the San Siro, Milan winning 4-2 with Pelé scoring both goals for his team and being injured by Trapattoni's marking. In the second leg at the Maracana, neither Pelé nor Zito played, but Santos won 4-2, and in the tiebreaker, Santos won 1-0. Thus Santos was also world club champion for the second time. In 1964 Julio Mazzei arrived to lead Santos, after a great management at Palmeiras. The arrival of Mazzei, in addition to winning the Rio-São Paulo Cup (1966 edition), would start the second golden era of Santos, with new players like Clodoaldo, Manoel Maria and Ramos Delgado among others.

A new era began in Santos in every sense. With Mazzei as coach and with members of the team like Carlos Alberto and Clodoaldo, Santos would once again conquer the planet as they had done a few years before. In 1966 they won in a triangle that included Santos, Inter and Benfica, a tournament held in the United States. In May 1967 they went on a tour of sub-Saharan Africa to later leave for Italy and Germany. In 1969 he returned to Africa for a new tour in which he was this time in Congo and Nigeria. However, that year would be remembered for a world event: Pelé's 1000th goal. By October 1969 he had 989 goals scored. In a match against the Portuguesa he scored 4 goals with what he already had 993. He scored 2 more goals against Coritiba and another against Flamengo and scored 2 more goals against Santa Cruz in Recife. Then in Joao Pessoa he scored one more goal, he already had 999 goals and after not scoring in Bahia, the media circus moved to Rio de Janeiro, to the Maracana, against Vasco da Gama. After a foul by Vasco's defense, Pelé was chosen to take the penalty. Making his typical paradinha, he beat the goalkeeper and scored his 1000th goal .This goal was awarded with the conquest of three new Paulistas Tournaments (1967, 1968 and 1969 editions) and a Silver Cup (1968 edition). At that time, Pelé was internationally well-known for being a great soccer star and was able to meet sports, political, academic, and artistic celebrities. Pelé does not forget that meeting he had with Robert F. Kennedy, who attended a soccer match played by that famous Brazilian soccer player until Pelé himself deeply regretted the assassination of that charismatic US senator a few years later.

Pelé signing a football for U.S. President Richard Nixon at the White House in 1973, two years before joining the New York Cosmos.

At the end of 1972 Pelé's contract with Santos would expire, so knowing the club that it was possible that they would not return to their golden years for a long time, in 18 months they embarked on a world tour that included South America, the Caribbean, North America, Europe, Asia and finally Australia. However, Santos was in full decline. After Mazzei's departure, several former players came by. Antoninho, Mauro, Jair, etc. In 1973 Pelé and his Santos went on tour again. They traveled through the Persian Gulf, Africa, Germany, Belgium, France and England. They then crossed the Atlantic to the United States to play the Baltimore Bays. In this match, Pelé scored the only Olympic goal of his entire career. He also participated in Garrincha's farewell game and joined the soccer workshops, an initiative carried out by the Pepsi-Cola Company to create soccer schools around the world. During this period he participated with Julio Mazzei in a video called & # 34; Pelé: The Master and His Method & # 34;, which won 11 international awards.

Without their participation, Brazil reached the semifinals, being eliminated by Johan Cruyff's Netherlands. He maintained a rivalry with the defender Elías Figueroa from Internacional in the Brasileirão between 1972 and 1974, coming to elbow each other during matches and was the one who succeeded him as the "best footballer in America" the last year when he could not dribble it. On October 1974, Pelé said goodbye to Santos and the high level in Vila Belmiro, in a match against Ponte Preta, where he played the first 21'. of the game, by the time he was replaced he grabbed the ball in the middle of the center circle with his two and lifted it up, ending his career in the Santista team.

New York Cosmos (1975-1977)

I fought in the New York Cosmos with Brian Joy and Eusébio da Silva.

Pelé had already retired from soccer ready to start a new life. However, he had serious financial problems due to a bad investment and was at risk of bankruptcy. The only sure way to recover was obvious: put the boots back on. Offers were on the table. Juventus and Real Madrid offered 15 million dollars. AC Milan and América de México also made their offers. But that would be going back to his previous life and he wasn't determined to do that, so he decided to consider an offer that had already been going on for 3 years, the offer from the New York Cosmos of the extinct NASL.

Chairman Clive Toye contacted the King to reiterate his proposal. This time Pelé could display the football that he had at that time in his boots (he was 35 years old at the time) without pressure, since in the United States football was not such a well-known sport. After six months of negotiations, in which Pelé agreed to play on the condition that Julio Mazzei was named physical trainer for Santos, he signed for the Cosmos in June 1975, and on the 11th of that month he would appear at the 21 Club, a place glamorous frequented by stars. His coach, Gordon Bradley, already knew Pelé, since they played a match a few years before as rivals and the duel was taken by Bradley, who marked Pelé. His NASL debut was on June 18 against the Toronto Metros at Randall Island, beating the Cosmos 2-0 and also surpassing the average attendance of 8,000 fans to 22,500, which exceeded the stadium's capacity. The 1975 season was disappointing, as they won 6 games and lost 7; in addition to the fact that Pelé was injured against the San José Earthquakes. It was evident that the Cosmos had to be strengthened better, so they hired the Peruvian Ramón Mifflin and Nelsi Morais, both from Santos. They toured Sweden, Norway, Italy and the Caribbean.

For 1976, former Società Sportiva Lazio striker Giorgio Chinaglia joined the team. Gordon Bradley was promoted to an administrative position and Ken Furphy was hired as the new technical director. Furphy brought five players from the English League, three of whom were from Sheffield United. However, Furphy had a very defensive vision of the game and despite the offensive power of the team, out of 8 games they won 4 and lost the rest. Bradley returned to coaching and left the Cosmos in second place in the NASL North Division. In the finals they faced the Washington Diplomats winning 2-0 with Pelé scoring a goal. They lost in the finals against the Tampa Bay Rowdies 3-1, Pelé scoring the goal for his team. Later this season he received a gold-encrusted boot commemorating his 1,250th goal.

I fought in his farewell match in 1977.

1977 was Pelé's last season with the Cosmos. Eddie Firmani, coach of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, took over as coach of the Cosmos, arriving with Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto. It was his best season, winning the last 8 home games and finishing second behind the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. In the finals they crushed the Strikers 8-3 and in the grand final they beat the Seattle Sounders 2-1. The farewell to the Cosmos took them to Japan, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, China and India. Thus ended his career with the Cosmos, playing 111 games and scoring 65 goals.

On October 1, 1977, at the age of 36, Pelé said goodbye to soccer for good in front of 75,000 spectators in a match between Santos and the Cosmos, playing time for each team. He scored for the Cosmos in the first half, but not for Santos and the match ended in a 2-1 victory for the Cosmos, thus ending the career of one of the greatest sportsmen in history. Thus, Pelé reached the unprecedented figure of 1,367 games played and 1,283 goals.

National team

Pelé, 17 years old, cries on the shoulder of the porter Gilmar after Brazil won the end of the 1958 World Cup.

I fought with Brazil in 1960.

After his outstanding performances defending the colors of Santos, he managed to get Vicente Feola, the coach of Brazil, to notice him and call him up for the national team a few months after his professional debut. Thus he appeared for the first time with the national team, on July 7, 1957, against Argentina in Maracana for the Roca Cup, and although he scored, Brazil lost 2-1. Three days later, in the same tournament, and again against Argentina at the Pacaembú stadium, Brazil won 2-0 with Pelé scoring one of the goals. Thus, Pelé not only achieved national but international recognition, also scoring his first two goals with « la verdeamarela ».

In 1958 he was called up to the Brazilian team to face the World Cup to be held in Sweden. For Pelé this was not easy. First, because they had summoned him to the detriment of Luizinho, the great star of Corinthians in those years. Because of this, Corinthians fans organized a match against those called up to show Feola the mistake of not taking Luizinho to the World Cup. He was not in good physical condition and the team won this match 3-1. This match led to a second problem for Pelé: Ari Clemente, the Corinthians defender, swept over and hit him in the right knee, injuring him. Although they were about to remove him from the final squad, they decided to take him to Sweden that way, having to undergo a therapy that consisted of applying hot towels on the battered knee.

However, he was not ready for Brazil's first game in Udevalla against Austria. The Brazilians won by a resounding 3-0 with goals from Mazzola (2) and Vavá. The second match was in Gothenburg against England. Pelé did not play and the match ended 0-0 thanks to a sensational performance by England goalkeeper Colin McDonald. It would be until the last game in Gothenburg against the USSR of Lev Yashin and Simonian, in which Pelé would debut. Brazil won 2-0 with a duo of Vavá and Pelé playing masterfully together with Garrincha and Didí. Brazil went to the quarterfinals and would face John Charles's Wales, who would not be there due to injury. Pelé received a pass from Didi behind the goal, lowering it with his chest to his right foot, then eluding the defender to score on Jack Kelsey's goal. It was the winning goal and the pass to the semifinals against France by Just Fontaine, Raymond Kopa and Roger Piantoni. The match ended 5-2 in favor of Canarinha with a hat-trick by Pelé.

Pelé bargains three Swedish players in the 1958 World Cup.

The final was against the Sweden of Nils Liedholm, Bengt Gustavsson, Agne Simonsson, Kalle Svensson and Gunnar Gren. After Liedholm's opening goal, Vavá scored a goal from a pass from Garrincha. Pelé smashed a ball into the post and Vavá scored again from a pass from Garrincha to end the first half 2-1. In the plugin Pelé makes his famous balloon to Gustavsson and hits the ball without letting it fall to make it 3-1. Pelé's goal, the result of his great ability and individual talent, was key to defining the game that was even in its development.

Then Zagallo scored to make it 4-1 and Simonsson scored for Sweden. In the end, after getting past two defenders in the air, Pelé heads the ball and it describes a slow parable that finally enters the net. Victoria Canarinha 5-2 and the first title for Brazil, being up to now the only American team to win a World Cup in Europe. An icon for history: 17-year-old Pelé crying on goalkeeper Gilmar's shoulder, winning the first of his three World Cup titles.

The following year, he was called up to be part of the Brazilian team in the South American Championship that took place in Argentina, where he played 6 games and scored 8 goals, 1 against Peru, 2 against Chile, 1 against Bolivia, 3 against Paraguay and 1 to Argentina, in the campaign that meant the Brazilian runner-up, in the only Copa América that Pelé would play.

I fought in October 1962.

In 1962 Pelé played in Chile at the age of 21 in his second World Cup. Brazil, which was the defending champion, arrived as a favourite; It had two new players, Mauro and Zózimo, and Aymoré Moreira as the new technical director. Due to the excess of games played, Pelé was diagnosed with an inguinal sprain, which caused him to feel pangs in the abductor muscle.

Brazil was located in Group 3, in Viña del Mar, with Spain, Czechoslovakia and Mexico. The first game was against Mexico, which they played, especially during the first part (which ended 0-0), with bravery and with a great performance from Antonio "La Tota" Carbajal. For the second part and changing their classic 4-2-4 for a new 4-3-3 for the time, Brazil won 2-0 with goals from Zagallo and Pelé in great individual play. In the second game against Czechoslovakia, his groin gave no more and Pelé fell dead in pain. As there were no substitutions at the time, he had to remain lame and unprotected in the game and, despite the fact that the Czechs played Pelé fair to avoid a worsening of his injury, the King did not play another game in that World Cup. Brazil's next match was against Spain with a 2-1 victory for the canarinha team. In the quarterfinals they faced England. With a Garrincha at his best, Brazil won 3-1. Before the game against Chile, it was said that Pelé would probably be able to play in the final if Brazil beat Chile in the semifinals. Brazil won, but when Pelé entered training with his teammates, he again began to suffer groin pain and was unable to play the final against Czechoslovakia. The match ended 3-1 with a Brazilian victory, although Pelé did not play much of this World Cup, between Garrincha and Amarildo they made the King not be missed too much.

For the World Cup in England in 1966, the logistics for Brazil's preparation were disastrous. First, because approximately 40 players were summoned and more than half of the contingent would not participate in the World Cup. Second, the two stars from Brazil Garrincha and Amarildo were not at the level of 4 years ago. In fact, Amarildo was injured in a friendly preparatory game. Third, the contingent was divided into 4 teams, which meant that there was no unity in the group. Fourth, there was no fixed training place, so they traveled all over Brazil, which meant that the physical condition of many was not up to par. And fifth, the disagreement and arrogance of the delegates of the Brazilian confederation who thought that they would only show the cup to other countries to win it again.

This is how you traveled to England, with a poorly prepared team, a total disagreement from the leaders and with the same number of players that should be the Brazilian delegation. This is how you arrived at Goodison Park in Liverpool on July 12, 1966 to face Bulgaria. Brazil won 2-0 with goals from Garrincha and Pelé from a free kick, but defender Zhechev from Bulgaria heavily punished Pelé by committing all kinds of fouls that were not whistled by the referee. As a prudent measure, the leaders decided not to play the second game against a new Hungary, which had a great Flórián Albert. Brazil lost 3-1. The next match against Eusebio's Portuguese would be fatal for Pelé for two reasons. First, because they lost 3-1 and were left out of the World Cup in the first round. And second, because Morais, a defender from Portugal, left him out of the game with a violent double fault that the referee did not whistle. Thus, Brazil returned home empty-handed.

Brazilian World Cup Selection of Mexico 1970.

After the episodes in England, Pelé resigned from the Brazilian team.

In 1968 he considered returning to the Brazilian team, but it was effective until 1969, when interest was focused on the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. Aymoré Moreira was dismissed and in his place came João Saldanha, former coach of the great Botafogo de Garrincha, Amarildo, Gerson and Manga. Saldanha made his team based on players from Santos and Botafogo. Due to problems with João Havelange, he was fired from the position, thus Mário Zagallo was appointed as his replacement. Zagallo summoned some more players like Tostão and Rivelino, with which Brazil was better complemented. Zagallo was also assisted by men like Claudio Coutinho and Carlos Alberto Parreira. After qualifying in their group with all their matches won and as favorites for the world reconquest, in Group 3 Brazil would face Czechoslovakia, the defending champions England and Romania. On June 3, 1970, the Brazilians faced Czechoslovakia in Guadalajara. Petras puts Czechoslovakia ahead, but Rivelino's free-kick equalized, and a few minutes later, Pelé made his famous midfield shot that came close to beating goalkeeper Ivo Viktor. This is how the first period ends. In the second half, Brazil took the lead with a volley from Pelé and two goals from Jairzinho to finish off the game that ended 4-1. On June 7 they played England in Guadalajara. After Gordon Banks fantastically saved a header from Pele and then a free kick from Rivelino, England countered with Geoff Hurst, but Felix cleared the ball away. In the second half, a play by Tostao's band allowed Jairzinho to pass Pelé to score 1-0. In the last minutes Hurst again tries to beat Félix, but the ball goes over the goal. Brazil won 1-0. In the last game against Romania in Guadalajara, Pelé scored two goals, one from a spectacular free kick and Jairzinho scored the third. Courage-based Romania manages to discount and in the end the match ends 3-2 in favor of Brazil.

For the quarterfinals, Brazil faced Peru. Trained by Didí, the Peruvians were the great revelation of the championship with Teófilo Cubillas, Hugo Sotil and Héctor Chumpitaz among other talented players. With a match with almost 50 options per team, the game ended 4-2 in favor of the Brazilians.In the semifinals, Pelé and his team faced their natural nemesis: Uruguay. After Cubilla put the Uruguayans ahead with a single miss shot, at the end of the first half Clodoaldo equalized. In the second half, Jairzinho and Rivelino ended the game. In the last minutes, Pelé faked Mazurkiewicz and managed to send the ball to the opposite post, but the ball did not have the desired effect and went inches from the post. Thus concluded the match.

The final at the Azteca Stadium would be for the Italians. After a cross from Rivelino, Pelé headed in the net after 15 minutes. At minute 37, Roberto Boninsegna took advantage of Clodoaldo's mistake and beat Félix without a problem. This is how the first part ends with a tie at one point. In the second half, Brazil went all-or-nothing and Gérson took advantage of the maximum available space and beat goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi with a goal from outside the area. A few minutes later, Gerson sent the ball into the area with plenty of space, Pelé headed and Jairzinho scored in the area and became the only player to have scored in all World Cup matches. 4 minutes from the end Clodoaldo makes a great play in the middle, he passes Rivelino and he passes Jairzinho, he passes Pelé who senses Carlos Alberto coming from behind. Without seeing him, Pelé sent the ball and with a machine gun Carlos Alberto defeated Albertossi. It was the end.

The stadium is coming. Souvenir hunters instantly take off his shirt and almost his pants. In the delivery of the Jules Rimet Cup, Carlos Alberto raised it and Brazil is world champion for the third time. Thus, Pelé became the first player to win 3 world cups as a player. With this event, the world of football crowns him as "The King".

Fatigued already from playing so many games around the world, he began paving the way for a goodbye to professional soccer, beginning with the national team. On July 18, 1971 he played his last game with the gold green shirt against Yugoslavia. The match ended tied 2-2, but it was moving to see the public say goodbye to their best player in such an affectionate way and thank him for 14 years of joy for Brazil.

On Sunday, July 18, 1971, Pelé played his last competitive match for the national team in 15 years. Despite this, in 1973 and 1976 he played two matches with the national team that were not recognized at the FIFA level. The first was a match tribute to the farewell of his former teammate Garrincha against a FIFA team, while the second was a posthumous tribute to Geraldo Dias against Clube de Regatas do Flamengo after the death of the player.

In 1974 his compatriot João Havelange —the president of FIFA— tried to convince Pelé to return to the national team with a view to the World Cup in Germany, since Mário Zagallo had difficulties putting the team together. Tostao withdrew due to a retinal injury, Carlos Alberto and Gerson had already withdrawn, and Jairzinho and Rivelino were not in very good condition. Pelé rejected the possibility since that would mean returning to the professional field, and he was close to retirement. In 1988, Pelé indicated that he did not attend the 1974 World Cup in rejection of the Brazilian military dictatorship.

In May 1986, the Brazilian team led by Telê Santana was going through problems with its forwards, marginalizing Renato Gaúcho from the 1986 World Cup squad due to indiscipline, which led to Leandro's resignation from Scratch. After this news, Pelé offered to be part of the squad for the World Cup, asking for 20 days to get ready physically and committing to play 45 minutes per game at a high level, at the age of 45 and 9 years out of professionalism, which he was immediately rejected by Santana.

Participations in World Cups

World	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Goles
World Cup 1958	Sweden Sweden	Champion	4	6
World Cup 1962	ChileChile	Champion	2	1
World Cup 1966	EnglandEngland	Group phase	2	1
World Cup 1970	Mexico Mexico	Champion	6	4
Total in World Cups			14	12

Participations in Copa América

Cup	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Goles
Copa America 1959	Argentina	Subfield	6	8

Participations in World Cup Qualifiers

Elimination	Country	Outcome	Position	Parties	Goles
South American Eradication 1970	Mexico Mexico	Classified	1.♪ Group A	6	6

Personal life

Pelé married for the first time in 1966 with Rosemeri Cholbi, a union that lasted until 1978, when due to his multiple occupations, the King did not spend enough time with the family and the relationship ended in divorce. The couple had four children: Kelly, Cristina, Edinho and Jennifer. In 1994 Pelé remarried, this time with Assiria Seixas Lemos, he is currently still married to her and two twins emerged from this union: Josua and Celeste.

He is also recognized for the relationships he had with the famous Brazilian singer Xuxa and with two beauty queens: Deise Nunes de Souza, Miss Brazil 1986, and Flávia Cavalcanti, Miss Brazil 1989.

His son Edinho (Edson Cholbi Nascimento), who played goalkeeper for Santos, was arrested in June 2005 for his involvement in drug trafficking; Finally, in May 2014, he was sentenced to 33 years and four months in prison for money laundering from drug trafficking.

Eight children are recognized: four with the first wife, Rosemeri Cholbi, two with the second, Assíria Lemos, and two extramarital daughters; Pelé was legally forced to acknowledge the paternity of one, Sandra Regina Machado, who died of cancer on October 17, 2006.

Pelé did not attend his daughter's wake, however, he explained in a note distributed to the press that he prayed the day before for her recovery and decided to send flowers. The heartfelt absence of her was attributed by the same information to the discomfort that the funeral atmospheres produced in her and for that same reason, the information adds, she did not appear either at the last posthumous tributes dedicated to her parents.

Life after retirement as a professional

I fought a speech at the 2007 World Economic Forum (WEF).

In 1977 he was appointed ambassador of the United Nations and was awarded the UN "Citizen of the World" award. He was also included in the FIFA Fair Play Committee and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In fact, Pelé managed to get FIFA to join forces with Unicef to organize the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan to dedicate it to children, which was a resounding success.

He was one of the soccer players who participated in the film Evasion or victory (1981), along with his friend Bobby Moore and other great soccer players of the time, such as Paul Van Himst, Osvaldo Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna, and in the company of actors such as Michael Caine, Max Von Sydow and Sylvester Stallone. He was in charge of designing the game choreographies for the match. He also participated in the family movie Eleven plus one (1981) He is also famous for being the icon of the Master Card company. He participated in several farewell matches, including Franz Beckenbauer's farewell to the Cosmos in 1984, his 50th birthday celebration at the San Siro in 1990, and a match in 1984 between that year's Cosmos squad and a team of All-Stars from the Cosmos. Cosmos.

In 1994 he was appointed executive advisor at Santos, and later that same year he was appointed Minister of Sports, although with many difficulties due to the lack of support from the political class, the "Pelé Law" was promulgated in Brazil, the which promulgates that as soon as a player's contract with his club ends, he must renew with it, or the club must release him. In addition, this forces the clubs to act as legitimate companies, having to show audited annual balance sheets.

In 1980 he was considered the "athlete of the century" according to a survey organized by the French weekly L'Equipe-Magazine among some twenty newspapers considered the most important in the world, while In 1999, Time magazine included him in its list of the "100 Most Important People of the XX", being the only footballer to receive such recognitions.

In 2015, he stated that he had obtained seven Ballon d'Ors corresponding to the years 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964 and 1970.

Health problems and death

In September 2021, he was diagnosed with colon cancer. On November 29, 2022, he was admitted to the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in São Paulo, Brazil for a reassessment of his cancer treatment, while he was hospitalized he He was diagnosed with a respiratory disease, which was treated with antibiotics, showing a general improvement in his state of health.

In December 2022 Pelé was infected with COVID-19 and his health worsened; However, the former player sent a message on social networks: “I am strong, with great hope and I continue my treatment as always. I want to thank the entire medical and nursing team for all the care I received."

On December 21, 2022, doctors reported a "progression" of colon cancer, in addition to care for kidney dysfunction, however, he was in a common room.

On December 29, 2022 at 3:27 p.m. (local time), he died at the Albert Einstein Israeli Hospital, aged 82. According to the medical report given that day, his death was due to a failure multiorgan disease as a result of the advance of colon cancer associated with his previous medical condition, while the death certificate released a day later indicates heart failure, kidney failure, bronchopneumonia and colon cancer as causes of death..

His body was taken to the Vila Belmiro Stadium where a burning chapel was set up open to the public for 24 hours from January 2, 2023 to which 230,000 people attended. On January 3, 2023, a funeral caravan heading to the Ecumenical Necropolis Memorial Cemetery where he was buried that same day.

Statistics

For a full statistical summary and breakdown, see Pele Stats

Debate on the number of goals

Statistics on the number of goals scored by Pele vary by source and lack universal standards across unofficial, youth, friendly, club and international matches. FIFA has carried out a tally of official goals converted, establishing the figure of 757 goals for Pelé, which leaves him fifth in the historical ranking after Cristiano Ronaldo (still active), Bican, Lionel Messi (still active) and Romario. Other sources or records compute the greatest number of goals, taking into account those converted in youth, friendly, exhibition and unofficial matches. To enter the Guinness Book of Records for the most goals, he accredited 1,279 goals in 1,363 games.

Clubs

Updated data to end of sports career.

Between 1959 and 1969 he played matches with the São Paulo team against other teams from the Brazilian states. There were a total of thirteen games in which he scored nine goals. In the same way, he played two games in 1961-62 in which he scored three goals with the São Paulo Athletes Union. Ten games or eleven have not been counted either, depending on which sources in which he scored fourteen goals with the military teams of the Navy and Coast Guard.

Club	Season	Estadual (1)		League (2)		International (3)		Regional (4)		Total		Included friendly
		Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles
Santos F. C. BrazilBrazil	1956	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	2	2
	1957	29	36	-	-	-	-	9	5	38	41	67	57
	1958	38	58	-	-	-	-	8	8	46	66	60	80
	1959	32	46	4	2	-	-	7	6	43	54	85	102.
	1960	30	32	-	-	-	-	3	-	33	32	63	57
	1961	26	47	5	7	-	-	7	8	38	62	74	110
	1962	26	37	5	2	6	9	-	-	37	48	55	65
	1963	19	22	4	8	5	7	8	14	36	51	51	73
	1964	21	33	6	7	-	-	5	3	32	43	44	49
	1965	27	49	4	2	7	8	6	5	44	64	65	98
	1966	14	13	5	2	-	-	-	-	19	15	38	31
	1967	18	16	14	9	-	-	-	-	32	26	65	57
	1968	21	17	18	12	3	1	-	-	42	30	74	55
	1969	25	26	12	12	5	2	-	-	42	40	60	57
	1970	16	7	13	4	-	-	-	-	29	11	54	47
	1971	19	6	21	1	-	-	-	-	40	7	72	29
	1972	20	9	16	5	-	-	-	-	36	14	74	50
	1973	19	11	30	19	-	-	-	-	49	30	75	57
	1974	10	1	17	9	-	-	-	-	27	10	36	14
	Total	410	466	174	101	26	27	53	49	663	643	1114	1090
New York Cosmos United States	1975	Non-existent		9	5	-	-	Non-existent		9	5	23	15
	1976	Non-existent		24	15	-	-	Non-existent		24	15	43	26
	1977	Non-existent		31	17	-	-	Non-existent		31	17	42	23
	1980	Non-existent		-	-	-	-	Non-existent		0	0	1	2
	Total	0	0	64	37	0	0	0	0	64	37	109	66
Total in your career		410	466	238	138	26	27	53	49	727	680	1223	1156
(1) Includes Paulist Championship data. (2) It includes data from Taça Brasil (1959-1966) and its equivalents, the Silver Cup (1967-1970) and Serie A Brazilian Championship. (3) Includes data from Copa Libertadores, Copa Intercontinental and Supercopa de Campeones Intercontinentales. (4) Includes data from Rio-São Paulo Tournament.

Selections

Updated data to end of sports career.

The match of November 6, 1968 against a FIFA team was declared unofficial by the highest authority in 2001, although it is recorded by the CBD —predecessor of the CBF— in the records, for a total of 92 games and 77 goals. His last game with the national team was in 1971; the one played in 1973 was for a team of Brazilian players, in which he scored a goal, while the one in 1976 was in homage to Geraldo Alves. The data is completed by two matches, one with the senior team (1987), and another for his fiftieth birthday with the "friends of Pelé" team (1990).

Non-FIFA friendly matches, that is, against clubs, are collected as "other matches", which is why they are not counted as friendly matches of the absolute Brazilian team for registration purposes.

Selection	Season	Friendly		South America (1)		World		Total		Media Shotgun	Other		Summary with others
		Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles		Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles
Absolute BrazilBrazil	1957	2	2	-	-	Impás		2	2	1.00	-	-	2	2
	1958	3	3	-	-	4	6	7	9	1.13	-	-	9	11
	1959	3	3	6	8	Impás		9	11	1.22	-	-	18	22
	1960	6	4	-	-	Impás		6	4	0.67	3	4	27	30
	1961	-	-	-	-	Impás		0	0	0	-	-	27	30
	1962	6	7	-	-	2	1	8	8	1.00	-	-	35	38
	1963	7	7	-	-	Impás		7	7	1.00	-	-	42	45
	1964	3	2	-	-	Impás		3	2	0.67	-	-	45	47
	1965	8	9	-	-	Impás		8	9	1.13	-	-	53	56
	1966	7	4	-	-	2	1	9	5	0.56	4	7	66	68
	1967	-	-	-	-	Impás		0	0	0	-	-	66	68
	1968	7	4	-	-	Impás		7	4	0.57	1	-	74	72
	1969	3	1	6	6	Impás		9	7	0.78	5	3	88	82
	1970	9	4	-	-	6	4	15	8	0.53	6	4	109	94
	1971	2	1	-	-	Impás		2	1	0.50	-	-	111	95
	1976	-	-	-	-	Impás		0	0	0	1	-	112	95
	Total	66	51	12	14	14	12	92	77	0.84	20	18	112	95
Total career		66	51	12	14	14	12	92	77	0.84	20	18	112	95
(1) Includes South American Championship matches / South American Classes (1959-69).

“The thousandth goal”

“The thousandth goal” is the way the goal that Pelé scored from a penalty kick on November 19, 1969, at 11:11 p.m., is usually called, in which his team, Santos, beat Vasco da Range by two goals to one. Pelé maintained that this was his thousandth goal, referring to the total number of goals scored in all types of matches. It must be borne in mind that according to FIFA, Pelé scored 757 official goals and that the total number of goals scored by the best-known footballers in the world is a matter of discussion.

The match was valid for the Roberto Gomes Pedrosa Tournament. At 33 minutes into the second half, Vasco da Gama defender Renê committed a penalty. Pelé scored with his right foot, defining the left post of Argentine goalkeeper Edgardo Andrada, who made an effort, but could not contain it. Andrada did not want to suffer the goal because he thought that he would stop being known as a good goalkeeper and would only be remembered as the goalkeeper of the thousandth goal.

When interviewed by reporters, Pele said: "I thought about Christmas. I thought of the children." Pelé wore a Vasco jersey with the number 1,000 and did an Olympic lap at the Maracana stadium.

FIFA statistics (official matches)

According to FIFA records of official matches, up to February 2023, including the Qatar 2022 Soccer World Cup, the all-time top scorers are:

RSSSF count

The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF), a free and voluntary amateur entity, publishes various unofficial statistics on its website. Related to Pelé, he has published the following:

Greatest goalscorers of all time (official matches)

All-time top scorers (all matches)

Palmares and distinctions

National titles

Title	Equipment	Country	Year
Série A	Santos F. C.	BrazilBrazil	1961
Série A			1962
Série A			1963
Série A			1964
Série A			1965
Série A			1968
NASL	New York Cosmos	United States	1977

International Championships

Title	Equipment	Headquarters	Year
World Cup	Selection of Brazil	Sweden Sweden	1958
World Cup		ChileChile	1962
Copa Libertadores	Santos F. C.	Buenos Aires	1962
Intercontinental Cup		Lisbon	1962
Copa Libertadores		Buenos Aires	1963
Intercontinental Cup		Rio de Janeiro	1963
Intercontinental Champions Super Cup		Milan	1968
World Cup	Selection of Brazil	Mexico Mexico	1970

Regional Championships

Title	Equipment	Region	Year
Paulist Championship	Santos F. C.	São Paulo	1958
Rio-São Paulo Tournament		Rio de Janeiro/ São Paulo	1959
Paulist Championship		São Paulo	1960
Paulist Championship			1961
Paulist Championship			1962
Rio-São Paulo Tournament		Rio de Janeiro/ São Paulo	1963
Paulist Championship		São Paulo	1964
Rio-São Paulo Tournament		Rio de Janeiro/ São Paulo	1964
Paulist Championship		São Paulo	1965
Rio-São Paulo Tournament		Rio de Janeiro/ São Paulo	1966
Paulist Championship		São Paulo	1967
Paulist Championship			1968
Paulist Championship			1969
Paulist Championship			1973

Individual awards

Discography

Filmography