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Edson Arantes Do Nascimento ( Pele ) O rei= The King of soccer

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 in the World Cup

Pelé played in four World Cups: Sweden 1958, Chile 1962, England 1966, and Mexico 1970. He scored 12 goals in 14 World Cup matches.

Sweden 1958

The first game Pelé played in in this world cup was Brasil's third, versus the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). He was put in the game by request of the leaders of the team, who spoke to Vicente Feola about putting Pelé and Garrincha on the field after winning their first game versus Austria 3-0 and drawing against England 0-0. In that game against the USSR, Pelé did not score, but Brasil won 2-0 with two goals by Vavá. In the next game, Pelé scored the only goal. In the semi-finals against France, which Brasil won 5-2, Pelé had a hat trick, and Vavá and Didi each scored one goal. In the final against Sweden, Pelé scored two goals (see goal video), Vavá scored twice, and Zagalo scored once to prevail over the Swedes 5-2.

Chile 1962

Right on in the first Brasilian game, versus Mexico, Pelé scored one goal, and Brasil won the game. Unfortunately, this cup, even though it was to be Pelé's cup, ended early for the great star. After ten minutes into the game against Czechoslovakia, he pulled a muscle and was out of the tournament. The cup then became Mané Garrincha's cup, while Amarildo substituted for Pelé

England 1966

Everything seemed to have gone wrong for Brasil in this cup. Somehow, 43 players were called to the squad, and when the team went to Europe, two of their best players, goalkeeper Valdir and forward Servílio, were cut out. In the first game, Brasil beat Bulgaria by a score of 2-0, with one goal by Pelé and the other by Garrincha. Then the team lost against Hungary 3-1, and in the next game, Pelé was violently forced out of the match because of injuries inflicted by the Portuguese twice before he was kept out of the game for its remainder

Mexico 1970

This was the Cup that let Brasil take the Jules Rimet home to stay. In the first game, they triumphed over Czechoslovakia 4-1, with two goals by Jairzinho, one by Pelé, and one by Rivelino. Following in the Checks' footsteps, England was beaten 1-0, with a goal by Jairzinho. Another victory came versus Romania, which Brasil won 3-2 with two goals by Pelé and one by Jairzinho. Brasil then beat Peru by a score of 4-2. In the semifinal against Uruguay, Brasil came over the top with a score of 3-1. The final game was against Italy, which Brasil won 4-1 with goals from Pelé (see goal video), Gérson, Jairzinho, and Carlos Alberto. In this cup Pelé had the 3 best "almost goals" in history, and gave the English goalkeeper Banks fame for the best save in the history of the world cup when Banks stopped one of Pelé's headers.

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