"If Pele hadn't been born a man, he would have been born a ball!"

 - Armando Nogueira

Just to watch him play in an exhibition match, the opposing sides of the then civil war in Nigeria signed a 48-hour armistice. Talk about influence.

Born in Oct. 21, 1940, Brazilian Edson Arantes do Nascimento, popularly known as Pele is tagged as the greatest and most famous player in the World Cup history.  At 17, he was the youngest player who won the World Cup. He was also the only player to gain 3 World Cup Championships --- 1958 in Sweden, 1962 in Chile and 1970 in Mexico, where he played his best game ever.

Pele’s contribution to soccer can be seen with an all-time world record of 1, 281 goals in 1,363 professional games.  When he retired from the international game soon afterwards, Brazil had to wait 24 years before another World Cup victory.

In 1999, Pele was named Athlete of the Century, being the top choice of the National Olympic Committee among the Five Best Athletes, even though he’s the only one who had never participated in the Olympics.

Pele beat the greats like Muhammad Ali, Carl Lewis, Michael Jordan and Mark Spitz who all had Olympic titles.

Blooper Lines of All Time

"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body."

- Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky Basketball Forward.

"I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father"
- Greg Norman