Pelé Biography

BIRTH: October 23, 1940, Três Corações, Brazil

Pelé Biography : Achievements, Career Info, Records & Stats

Pelé is a Brazilian soccer player considered to be the greatest player of all time. He was a member of the Brazilian team that won three World Cup championships, in 1958, 1962, and 1970. Pelé was called the “King of Football”, and he was the highest-paid athlete in the world during his time.

Pelé was born as Edson Arantes do Nascimento on October 23, 1940, in Brazil to João Ramos and Dona Celeste Arantes. He is the elder of two siblings. His parents named him after the American inventor Thomas Alva Edison. He got his nickname Pelé from his friends when he was in school. Edson once mispronounced the goalkeeper Bilé’s name as Pelé and it stuck.

Pelé grew up in a low-income environment. From a very young age, Pelé had to start doing odd jobs to earn money and support his family. His father was a former soccer player, which nurtured his interest in the sport. He was the one who taught Pelé to play football. Sometimes Pelé would practice by filling socks with newspapers because he could not afford a real ball.

Pelé soon started training under Waldemar de Brito, a former member of the Brazilian national soccer team. His coach recognized his talent and wanted him to participate in the Santos professional soccer club. At the age of fifteen, he left his home and tried out for Santos FC. He signed a contract with the club in 1956. Pelé played his first professional game that year. At the age of sixteen, he secured the first professional goal of his career. By 1957, he was a permanent player in the team. Soon he was also the top scorer in the league. This performance of his landed him in the national team of Brazil.

In 1957, Pelé played his first international game against Argentina. Even though his team didn’t win, Pelé became the youngest player ever to score a goal in an international soccer tournament. The year 1958 was the turning point in Pele’s career. In 1958, he participated in his first World Cup in Sweden. He made history by breaking several records. He scored a total of six goals in four games that season, making Brazil the winning team of the year. Pelé also helped his team win the Campeonato Paulista league, a top-tier professional soccer league in Brazil. He was the top scorer with 58 goals, which is a record in itself and remains unbroken.

In 1962, Pelé took part in the second World Cup tournament. Due to severe injuries he had to leave the tournament after two games; but Brazil went on to win the World Cup for the second time. That year, Santos FC participated in and won the Copa Libertadores competition, Campeonato Brasiliero and the 1962 Intercontinental Cup. Pele’s most significant career moment came in 1969 when he scored his 1000th goal during the US League against Vasco da Gama. The goal was dubbed as “The Thousandth”.

1970 was another major year for Pelé as he participated in his last World Cup. Brazil won the World Cup in Mexico, and Pelé was chosen as the ‘Player of the Tournament’ for his outstanding performance including a goal in the finals. In 1974, Pelé announced his retirement. The 1974 season with Santos was his nineteenth and final season with the team.

In 1975, he signed a $7 million contract with the New York Cosmos and played with them for a short while. Pelé helped the club to win the 1977 NASL championship and officially retired from soccer.

Pelé has received many prestigious awards and honors in his life, and not just for sports. In 1978, he received the International Peace Award for his work with UNICEF. He worked as a UN ambassador for ecology and the environment in 1992. In 1995, he was named as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and he received Brazil’s gold medal for his contribution to sports, and humanitarian and environmental problems. In 1997, he was honored as the Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 2005, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from BBC.

Pelé has been married and divorced twice, and is currently married, for a third time, to Marcia Aoki with whom he tied the knot in 2016. He is the father of four children.

The term “The Beautiful Game”, a synonym for soccer, was popularized by Pelé. While the actual origin of the phrase is unknown, Pelé used this phrase in his 1977 autobiography My Life and the Beautiful Game, and it caught on. Considering his immense contribution to the sport he was naturally the highest paid athlete in the world during his active years. People called him “The Black Pearl”, “The King of Football” and simply “The King”.