Pele Pics

Pelè

23 October 1940

67.75

Athletic

Brown - Dark

Brown - Dark

Três Corações, Brazil

Scorpio

Black

One of the greatest soccer players of all time

Male

Brazilian

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Edison Arantes do Nascimento,[6] KBE (born 23 October 1940 in Três Corações, Brazil), best known by his nickname Pelé, is a Brazilian former football player, rated by many as the greatest footballer of all time. He was given the title of Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee.[7] While his birth certificate shows his first name as Edison (after the American inventor), he prefers to call himself Edson, but it is as Pelé that he has become a sporting legend. In his native Brazil, Pelé is hailed as a national hero. He is known for his accomplishments and contributions to the game of football,[8] in addition to being officially declared the football ambassador of the world by FIFA and a national treasure by the Brazilian government. He is also acknowledged for his vocal support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor (when he scored his 1,000th goal he dedicated it to the poor children of Brazil).[9] During his career, he became known as "The King of Football" (O Rei do Futebol), "The King Pelé" (O Rei Pelé) or simply "The King" (O Rei). He is also a member of the American National Soccer Hall of Fame. Spotted by football star Waldemar de Brito,[10] Pelé began playing for Santos Futebol Clube at 15 and his national team at 16, and won his first World Cup at 17. Despite numerous offers from European clubs, the current economic conditions and Brazilian Football regulations benefited Santos FC, thus enabling them to keep Pelé for almost two decades until 1974. Pelé played as an inside forward, striker, and what later became known as the playmaker position. Pelé`s technique and natural athleticism have been universally praised; he was renowned for his excellent dribbling and passing, his pace, powerful shot, exceptional heading ability, and prolific goalscoring. He is the all-time top scorer in the history of the Brazil national football team and is the only footballer to be a part of three World Cup-winning teams. In 1962 he was part of the Brazilian squad but due to an injury suffered in the 2nd match did not play the whole tournament. In November 2007 FIFA announced that he would be awarded the 1962 medal retroactively, making him the only player in the world to have three World Cup winning medals. Since his full retirement in 1977 Pelé has been an ambassador for football and has also undertaken various acting roles and commercial ventures. He was born in Três Corações, Brazil, the son of a Fluminense footballer Dondinho (born João Ramos do Nascimento) and Maria Celeste Arantes.[11] He was named after the American inventor Thomas Edison,[12], but prefers to call himself Edson. He was originally nicknamed Dico by his family.[11][10][13] He did not receive the nickname "Pelé" until his school days, when it is claimed he was given it because of his pronunciation of the name of his favorite player, local Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Bilé, which he misspoke "Pilé".[13] He originally disliked the nickname, being suspended from school for punching the classmate that coined it,[14] but the more he complained the more it stuck. In his autobiography, Pelé stated he had no idea what the name means, nor did his old friends.[11] Apart from the assertion that the name is derived from that of Bilé, the word has no known meaning, although it does resemble the Irish language word peile, meaning football.[15] Growing up in poverty in Bauru, São Paulo, Pelé earned extra money by shining shoes at the Bauru Athletic Club on match days. Taught to play by his father, whose own professional football career with Atlético Mineiro ended prematurely due to a knee injury, he could not afford a proper football and usually played with either a sock stuffed with newspaper, tied with a string[11] or a grapefruit.[16] In 1954, several members of the Ameriquinha team, including Pelé, were invited to join the Baquinho boy`s team to be managed by former Brazilian international Waldemar de Brito, who played in the 1934 World Cup in Italy.[citation needed] At the age of 15 and a half, he joined the Santos FC junior team. He played for one season before joining the senior team. In 1956, de Brito took Pelé to Santos, an industrial and port city in the state of São Paulo, to try out for professional club Santos Futebol Clube telling the directors at Santos that the 15-year-old would be "the greatest football player in the world."[17] During his time at Santos, Pelé played alongside many gifted players, including Zito, Pepe, and Coutinho; the latter partnered him in numerous one-two plays, attacks, and goals. Pelé made his debut for Santos in 7 September 1956, scoring one goal in a 7–1 friendly victory over Corinthians.[18] When the 1957 season started, Pelé was given a starting place in the first team and, at the age of just 16, became the top scorer in the league. Just ten months after signing professionally, the teenager was calle

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pele

Edison Arantes do Nascimento

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Actor/Actress, Writer, Other Crew

71

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Edison "Edson" Arantes do Nascimento KBE (born 21 or 23 October 1940), best known by his nickname Pelé (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: usual English pronunciation: ) is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded among football experts and former players as one of the greatest football players of all time. In 1999, he was voted as the Football Player of the Century by the IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics. In the same year French weekly magazine France-Football consulted their former "Ballon D'Or" winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. Pelé came in first position. In 1999 the International Olympic Committee named Pelé the "Athlete of the Century". In his career he scored 760 official goals, 541 in league championships, making him the top scorer of all time. In total Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 games.

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