Pele - Biography, Achievements and Quotes

Edison Arantes do Nascimento better known as Pele, is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is regarded by many experts, players, and fans as the best player of all time. In 1999, he was voted Football Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics(IFFHS). In the same year French weekly magazine France Football consulted their former Ballon D'Or winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. Pele came in first place. Pele was elected "Athlete of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee and Reuters News Agency in 1999, and by French newspaper L'Équipe in 1981. During his playing days Pele was for a period the best paid athlete in the world. According to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) he is the most successful league goal scorer in the world, with 541 league goals. In total Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 games. In his native Brazil, Pele is hailed as a national hero. He is known for his accomplishments and contributions to the game of football. 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). During his career, he became known as "The Black Pearl", "The King of Football" , "The King Pelé" or simply "The King"
Spotted by football star Waldemar de Brito, Pelé began playing for Santos at 15 and his national team at 16, and won his first World Cup at 17. Despite numerous offers from European clubs, he could not leave Brazil because of a law keeping him there. In 1961 President Janio Quadros had Pelé declared a national treasure, thus enabling Santos to keep Pee for almost two decades until 1974. With Pelé within their ranks, Santos reached their zenith by winning the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores, the most prestigious club competition in South American football. In 1962 Santos became the first football club ever to win four out of four competitions in a single year, thus achieving the quadruple. Pele’s electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals made him a star around the world. His team Santos toured internationally in order to take full advantage of his popularity. Pele played most of his career as a deep-lying forward. Pele's technique and natural athleticism have been universally praised and during his playing years he was renowned for his excellent dribbling and passing, his pace, powerful shot, exceptional heading ability, and prolific goal scoring.
He is the all-time leading scorer of the Brazil national football team and is the only footballer to be a part of three World Cup-winning squads. In 1962, his second World Cup victory, he was on the Brazilian squad at the start of the World Cup but because of an injury suffered in the second match, he was not able to play the remainder of the 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 retirement in 1977, Pele has been a worldwide ambassador for football and has undertaken various acting roles and commercial ventures. He is currently the Honorary President of the New York Cosmos.

Achievements & Facts about Pele

• Pele's real name is Edison Arantes do Nascimento and he was named after the American inventor Thomas Edison.
• He managed to win 3 World Cups with Brazil and 10 Brazil Championships with Brazilian team Santos.
• Pele scored total of 1,283 goals scored during Pele's illustrious career, with 77 of those goals scored for Brazil.
• A muscular compact man standing 5ft 8inches tall and weighing 68 kg, Pele possessed the perfect blend of physical power, dazzling ball handling, and an instinct for discerning an opponent’s weakness. He was noted for his powerful shot and skillful ball control and for his brilliant passing and tactical awareness.
• Pele became the only player to participate in three world cup victories when he led the Brazilian national team to titles in 1958, 1962, and 1970. By 1970 he had scored his 1000th goal becoming the most prolific goal scorer in history.
• Pele retired in 1974 but was enticed to return to play in 1975 when the New York Cosmos offered him a multi-million contract. Pele’s contract with Cosmos made him the highest paid athlete in the world at that time.
• Pele was only 15 years old when he was signed by Santos. Interesting fact about Pele is that he scored 4 goals in his league debut for Santos on September 7th, 1956 against FC Corinthians.
• Pele was discovered and brought to Santos by another great Brazilian player Waldemar de Brito who also said "Pele will be greatest football player in the world".
• Pele signed with Santos and immediately started practicing with the team's regulars. He scored the first professional goal of his career before he turned 16, led the league in goals in his first full season and was recruited to play for the Brazilian national team.
• The world was officially introduced to Pele in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Displaying remarkable speed, athleticism and field vision, the 17-year-old erupted to score three goals in a 5-2 semifinal win over France, then netted two more in the finals, a 5-2 win over the host country.
• Pele aggravated a groin injury two games into the 1962 World Cup in Chile, sitting out the final rounds while Brazil went on to claim its second straight title. Four years later, in England, a series of brutal attacks by opposing defenders again forced him to the sidelines with leg injuries, and Brazil was bounced from the World Cup after one round.
• Despite the disappointment on the world stage, the legend of Pele continued to grow. In the late 1960s, the two factions in the Nigerian Civil War reportedly agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch Pelé play in an exhibition game in Lagos.
• He was only 17 when he won his first World Cup title. He is the youngest player to have won the World Cup title.
• Pele is when he scored his 1000th goal on November 19th, 1969 it took 30 minutes for the game to resume after fans stormed the field to celebrate this historic event of Pele's career with him.
• Every year on the 19th of November Santos celebrates "Pele day" or anniversary of Pele's 1000th goal.
• Pele is the 5th leading all time World Cup scorer for Brazil.
• In 1975, he made a comeback to football for a 7 million dollar contract that he signed to play for just over 2 seasons in New York Cosmos football club.He said that he signed the contract not fort he money, but to „make soccer truly popular in the United States“.In 1977 the great and famous athlete finally decided to retire completely from football.
• He scored a celebrational 1000th goal in 1969.His most succesful season was in 1958 in which he scored 139 goals.Overall Pele has played 1363 matches and scored 1281 goals including 92 hat-tricks..
• On August 1, 2010, Pele was introduced as the Honorary President of a revived New York Cosmos.
• Pele was named after American inventor Thomas Edison, his real name being Edson Arantes do Nascimiento.
• He was voted athlete of the century by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1999.
• Pele said in 2006: "For 20 years they have asked me the same question, who is the greatest? Pele or Maradona? I reply that all you have to do is look at the facts - how many goals did he score with his right foot or with his head?"
• Pele on the importance of football stars: "When football stars disappear, so do the teams, and that is a very curious phenomenon. It is like in the theatre, in a play, where there is a great star. If the star is not well, the whole cast suffers."
• Pele once said: "A penalty is a cowardly way to score."
• "How do you spell Pelé?" the Times of London once declared.  "G-O-D".
• Pele and Maradona are hardly friends. Earlier this year Pele said of the Argentinian: “He is not a good example for the youth. He had the God-given gift of being able to play football, and that is why he is lucky." Maradona's response: “Who cares what Pele says? He belongs in a museum.”
• England World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore on Pele: “The most complete player I've ever seen.”
• Pele's father once scored five headed goals in one game, a feat that Pele was never able to replicate. The most headers Pele ever scored in a game was four.
• Former Manchester City and England star once said of Pele: “Comparing Gascoigne to Pele is like comparing Rolf Harris to Rembrandt.”
• Pele on being a role-model: "Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man."
• Pele on achievement: "Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do."
• In 2000, Pele was named second in the BBC's "Sportsman of the Century" award. Boxing legend Muhammad Ali came first.
• Tarcisio Burgnich, Italian defender who marked Pele in the 1970 World Cup Finals said afterwards: "I told myself before the game, he's made of skin and bones just like everyone else — but I was wrong."
• The Brazilian government declared Pele an official national treasure in 1961 to prevent him from being transferred out of the country.
• In 1993, Pele was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
• In Brazil, Coca-Cola sponsors a Pele museum on wheels that travels throughout the country
• Cristiano Ronaldo said: "Pele is the greatest player in football history, and there will only be one Pele".
• Pele is the only player to have been a part of three World Cup winning teams.  
• Pele scored 92 hat-tricks, and scored four goals on 31 occasions, five on six occasions, and once scored eight
• Pele on winning: "If you are first you are first. If you are second, you are nothing."
• Pele has worked as a UNICEF Goodwill ambassador and as a United Nations ambassador, working to protect the environment and fight corruption in Brazil.
• Pele came out of international retirement to play one last game for Brazil on October 6, 1976 against club side Flamengo, who won the match 2-0. His last international game for Brazil, however, was a 2-2 draw with Yugoslavia on July 18, 1971.
• On October 1, 1977, Pele played his last game as a footballer as Santos played New York Cosmos at the Giants Stadium. He played the first half of the game for the American club, and the second half for Santos.
• Brazil never lost a game when Pele and the legendary Garrincha played together.
• In 2005, Pele fronted an advertising campaign for the drug Viagra, and was widely credited for breaking the taboo about speaking or receiving treatment for erectile dysfunction.
• As he prepared to kick off in a game during Mexico '70, Pele gestured to the referee that he needed to tie his laces. The cameras panned in to reveal the forward's Puma boots — the company subsequently experienced a huge sales boost.

Some Superb Quotes of Pele

• “A penalty is a cowardly way to score.”
• “I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'born' soccer player. Perhaps you are born with certain skills and talents, but quite frankly it seems impossible to me that one is actually born to be an ace soccer player”
• “If you are first you are first. If you are second, you are nothing.”
• "When football stars disappear, so do the teams, and that is a very curious phenomenon. It is like in the theatre, in a play, where there is a great star. If the star is not well, the whole cast suffers"
• "Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do"
• "Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string"
• "Everything is practice"
• "He is the greatest player in the world right now, without a doubt, he is the player who gives (Brazilians) the most joy": Pele, on Ronaldinho.
• “I've come to accept that the life of a fron trunner is a hard one, that he will suffer more injuries than most men and that many of these injuries will not be accidental”
• "Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man"