Biography of Pele

Biography of Pele

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, more widely admired by the world as "Pelé", was born on October 23, 1940, in a small village in Brasil called Três Corações in the Brasilian state of Minas Gerais. He was baptized in the municipal church called Igreja da Sagrada Família de Jesus, Maria e José. His father, João Ramos do Nascimento, or Dondinho, as he was known in the soccer world, was also a professional player. He was well-known as one of the best-heading players in his time. He was a center forward for Fluminense until an injury kept him from playing professional division one soccer. His mother Celeste gave Pelé and the rest of his family attention to their needs and a lot of love. When he was a child, Pelé and his family moved to Baurú, in the interior of the Brasilian state of São Paulo, where he learned to master the art of futebol. One day he himself confessed that he "tinha três corações [had three hearts]", referring to the city where he was born, Três Corações, and to Baurú and Santos.

Pelé's Career

Pelé's first job was shining shoes. But he had always dreamed of playing soccer.

Pelé's soccer career started early. After playing in a few amateur teams like Baquinho and Sete Setembro, at the age of 11, while playing for an uncoached team called Ameriquinha, he was discovered by a former Brasilian World Cup player named Waldemar de Brito. De Brito recognized Pelé's skills and invited him to join the team he was organizing (Clube Atlético Baurú?). When Pelé was fifteen, in 1956, de Brito took him to the city of São Paulo to try out for the professional club called Santos Futebol Clube (SFC). That day, de Brito told the team directors that "This boy will be the greatest soccer player in the world."

Pelé's first show came on September 7, 1956, when he played in place of the center forward Del Vecchio. He came into the game to score the sixth of the seven goals in the 7-1 Santos victory. He scored his goal on the 36th minute, in a play between Raimundinho and Tite. The ball was given to Pelé in the box, and even though he was surrounded by defenders, he shot on goal and the ball went under goalkeeper Zaluar's body. Zaluar became famous as the first goalkeeper to take a goal from the great Pelé. From there, the trip to the summit was fast. In his first league game with Santos, he scored four goals. The next season, he was a re...

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...ht goals in one game against Botafogo of Rio de Janeiro. On November 19, 1969, he scored his famous 1,000th goal from a

penalty kick on the 34th minute of the game against Vasco da Gama and dedicated it "...para as criancinhas pobres do Brasil...." (to the poor little children of Brasil) and to the elderly and suffering peoples of Brasil. Pelé also participated in what is known to be the "Golden Age" of the Libertadores Cup from 1960 to 1963, during which the great Uruguayan team Peñarol faced the legendary Santos for the final games. Peñarol won in 1960 and 61, while Santos took the championship the other two years.

Pelé defined the role of the playmaker/midfielder type. He led some of the greatest Brasilian players of all time - Vavá, Didi, Garrincha, and others. Many said Pelé would have been the best in any position he played. Pelé once insisted to the manager of Santos that he play goalkeeper. On January 19, 1964, he substituted Santos goalkeepr Gilmar, who had been ejected, in the semi-final game of the Brasil Cup. For five minutes, after scoring three goals, Pelé played with the number one jersey and made two spectacular saves that saved Santos the spot in the finals.