Pelé was born as Edson Arantes do Nascimento on October 23, 1940 at Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil, the son of Celeste and João Ramos do Nascimento. His talent in the game of soccer was recognized early by soccer coach Waldemar de Brito, a former Brasiliam World Cup player. In 1956 de Brito took Pelé to São Paulo to try out for Santos Futebol Clube, a professional team. Pelé was accepted and played his first game on September 7, 1956 for the Santos team.
The following year, at age sixteen, Pelé joined the Brasilian national team under coach Sylvio Pirilo. In 1958 Pelé played in his first World Cup match. Pelé played in four World Cups: Sweden in 1958, Chile in 1962, England in 1966 and Mexico in 1970. Of these, Pelé won three World Cups, in 1958, 1962 and 1970. He scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 professional games.
Pelé is given credit for stopping a war in Nigeria. When he played exhibition matches there, a 48 hour armistice was signed between the warring sides so both could watch the games.
Pelé played on the national team until 1971. He played his last game for Santos Futebol Clube on October 3, 1974. Pelé came out of retirement to play for the New York Cosmos in the United States. He is given credit for popularizing the game of soccer in the United States.
Pelé continues to make appearances around the world as a speaker and promoter of soccer.
Click on the links below to learn more about Pelé:
