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Footballer Pele Biography and Achievements, Birth, Age, Career, Awards and Honors
Pele, whose full name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento. He was born on October 23, 1940, in Tres Coracos, Brazil. He was the greatest player of his time in the world and Brazilian football, perhaps the most famous of his time, and possibly the highest-paid athlete in the world. He was part of the Brazilian national teams that won three World Cup championships (1958, 1962, and 1970).
Pele’s early life
Legendary footballer Pele was born on 23 October 1940 in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil. His full name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the son of Fluminense footballer Dondinho (born João Ramos do Nascimento) and Celeste Arantes. He was the elder of two siblings in the family. It is interesting to know that he was named after the American inventor Thomas Edison. His parents decided to drop the “i” and call him “Edson”, but the birth certificate contained a mistake, causing many documents to show his name as “Edison”, not “Edson”, as he was called. goes.
Let us tell you that he was originally given the nickname “Diko” by his family. He received the nickname “Pele” during his school days when it is claimed that he was given it because of the pronunciation of the name of his favorite player, the local Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Bille, which he mispronounced. He complained about being stuck. In his autobiography, Pele said that neither he nor his old friends knew the meaning of the name. Apart from the claim that the name is derived from Bil, and that it is Hebrew for “miracle” (פֶּ֫לֶא), the word has no known meaning in Portuguese.
Pele’s childhood passed in extreme poverty
Pelé grew up in poverty in Bauru, São Paulo state. He earned extra money by working as a servant in a tea shop. Learning to play from his father, he could not afford a proper football and usually played with either a sock stuffed with newspaper and tied to a string or a grapevine branch. He played for several amateur teams in his youth, including Sete de Setembro, Canto do Rio, São Paulinho, and Américainha.
Pelé led the Bauru Athletic Club juniors (coached by Valdemar de Brito) to two São Paulo state youth championships. In his mid-teens, he played for an indoor soccer team called Radium. Indoor football had just become popular in Bauru when Pelé started playing it. He was part of the first futsal (indoor football) competition in the region. Pele and his team won the first championship and many others.
According to Pelé, futsal (indoor football) presented difficult challenges; He said that it was much faster than football on grass and that players needed to think fast because everyone on the pitch is close to each other. Pele credits futsal with helping him think better on the spot. Furthermore, futsal allowed him to play with adults when he was about 14 years old. In the one tournament he participated in, he was initially deemed too young to play, but eventually became the top scorer with 14 or 15 goals.
After playing for a minor league club in Bauru, São Paulo state, Pelé (whose surname is apparently unimportant) was rejected by major club teams in the city of São Paulo. However, in 1956, he joined Santos Football Club which, with Pelé as an inside left forward, won nine São Paulo league championships and both the Libertadores Cup and the Intercontinental Club Cup in 1962 and 1963.
Sometimes called the “Perola Negra” (“Black Pearl”), he became a national hero of Brazil. Pelé combined accurate and powerful kicking with an uncanny ability to anticipate opponents’ moves. After the 1958 World Cup, Pelé was declared a national treasure by the Brazilian government in order to fend off bigger offers from European clubs and ensure that he would stay in Brazil. On 19 November 1969, in his 909th first-class match, he scored his 1,000th goal.
Pele’s career and acchivments
Pelé made his international debut in 1957 at the age of 16 and made his debut in the World Cup final in Sweden the following year. The Brazilian manager was initially hesitant to play their young star. When Pelé finally arrived on the field, he had an immediate impact, hitting the post with a shot and getting an assist. He scored a hat trick in the semi-final against France and two goals in the championship game, where Brazil beat Sweden 5–2.
In the 1962 World Cup final, Pele strained a thigh muscle in the second match and was forced to sit out the remainder of the tournament. Nonetheless, Brazil claimed their second World Cup title. Difficult play and injuries turned the 1966 World Cup into a disaster for both Brazil and Pelé, as the team was knocked out in the first round, and he considered retiring from playing World Cups.
Returning for another World Cup tournament in 1970, he teamed up with young stars Jairzinho and Rivelino to claim Brazil’s third title and permanent ownership of the Jules Rimet trophy. Pelé finished his World Cup career with 12 goals in 14 games.
Pele’s penchant for thrilling play and spectacular goals made him a worldwide star. To take full advantage of his popularity, his team Santos toured internationally. In 1967 he and his team traveled to Nigeria to call a 48-hour ceasefire in that country’s civil war so that all could see the great player.
Pele announced his retirement in 1974, but agreed to a three-year, $7 million contract with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League in 1975 to promote the sport in the United States. He led the Cosmos to his final league championship in 1977, after which he retired from the game.
Pele was the recipient of the International Peace Prize in 1978. In 1980 he was named Athlete of the Century by the French sports publication L’Equipe, and he received the same honor from the International Olympic Committee in 1999. In recognition of his great achievements and contributions, the Pele Museum was opened in Santos, Brazil in 2014. In addition to his achievements in sports, he has published several best-selling autobiographies and starred in several successful documentary and semi-documentary films. He composed several musical compositions including the soundtrack for the film Pele (1977).