do Nascimento
PELE
PELE (born 1940).
"Soccer in its purest form" was played by Pele, a South American superstar who
was the world's most famous and highest-paid athlete when he joined a North
American team in 1975. He led the Brazilian national soccer team to three World
Cup victories in 1958, 1962, and 1970 and to permanent possession of the Jules
Rimet Trophy.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born to a poor family on Oct. 23, 1940, in Tres
Coracoes, Brazil. He began playing for a local minor-league club when he was a
teenager. He made his debut with the Santos Football Club in 1956. With Pele at
inside left forward, the team won several South American clubs' cups and the
1962 world club championship, in addition to the three World Cup
.Pele scored his
1,000th goal in 1969. The legendary athlete retired in 1974 but made a comeback
in 1975 after accepting a reported 7-million-dollar contract for three years
with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. He said he came
out of retirement, not for the money, but to "make soccer truly popular in the
United States." His farewell appearance was against his old club.
Pele, whose nickname does not mean anything, became a Brazilian national hero
and was also known as Perola Negra (Black Pearl).
An average-sized man, he was blessed with speed, great
balance, tremendous vision, the ability to control the ball superbly, and the
ability to shoot powerfully and accurately with either foot and with his head.
In his career he played in 1,363 matches and scored 1,282 goals. His best season
was 1958, when he scored 139 times. In addition to his accomplishments in
sports, he published several best-selling autobiographies, starred in several
documentary and semidocumentary films, and composed numerous musical pieces,
including the entire sound track for the film 'Pele' (1977). He was the 1978
recipient of the International Peace Award, and in 1980 he was named athlete of
the century.