Brazilian Footballer
- Chosen as the best footballer of the 20th century by FIFA.
- Sporting debut : September 7, 1956 (Santos FC)
- Position : Forward
- Retirement : October 1, 1977 (New York Cosmos)
- Parents : Joao Ramos do Nascimento and Celeste Arantes
- Spouses : Rosemeri Cholbi, Assiria Seixas Lemos
- Couple : Xuxa (1981-1986), Deise Nunes de Souza, Flavia Cavalcanti
- Children : Kelly Cristina, Edinho, Jennifer, Josua, Celeste, Sandra Regina
- Name : Edson Arantes do Nascimento
- Nicknames : Pele, The King, D10S
- Height : 1.73 m
Pelé was born on October 23, 1940 in Três Corações, located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Family
The son of Celeste Arantes and Joao Ramos do Nascimento, known as Dondinho , he was also a professional footballer who played for Fluminense and Atlético Mineiro.
After being injured, his father ended up cleaning toilets and Pelé often helped him in that task. He also earned his living as a shoeshine boy in his childhood.
Pelé claimed that his father named him Edson in honour of the inventor Thomas Edison.
Path
He was discovered by former Brazilian footballer Waldemar de Brito. Pelé was 11 years old and De Brito introduced him to Santos Football Club , telling the directors: “This kid is going to be the best football player in the world.”
He started out at Santos before he was 16. The Brazilian star made his debut against Corinthians. He spent most of his career with this team and won nine Campeonato Paulistas, three Rio-São Paulo Tournaments, six Brazilian Serie A Championships, two Copa Libertadores, two Intercontinental Cups and the Intercontinental Champions Super Cup.
At 16, he made his debut with the national team at the Maracanã Stadium against Argentina, a match in which he scored his first goal for the Brazilian team.
His stardom as a player began at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, where he scored three goals in the semi-finals against France and two more in the final against the hosts.
Pelé played in three World Cup victories with Brazil , winning the championship in 1958, 1962 and 1970. By 1970, he had scored 1,000 goals.
From 1975 to 1977, he played for the New York Cosmos , with whom he won the North American Soccer League title in 1977.
The Most Important Goals in Pelé's Career
- First goal with the Brazilian national team (1956).
- The goal in the 1970 World Cup final: Considered the most important of Pelé's career, as it was the one that gave Brazil victory in the 1970 World Cup final.
- The goal in the 1958 World Cup final: Considered the second most important goal of Pelé's career, as it was the one that gave Brazil victory in the 1958 World Cup final.
- The goal of the four hats against Club Atlético Juventus (1959).
- The goal against Fluminense (1961).
- His 1000th career goal against Vasco da Gama (1969).
He scored a total of 1,283 goals throughout his career, the highest number achieved by a professional up to that time, playing 1,120 games with Santos and 107 with the New York Cosmos.
Acknowledgements
Considered one of the best players in the history of football . He was voted the best player of the century in a vote by the winners of the Ballon d'Or. The IFFHS named him the best player in the world. In 2000 he was voted the best footballer of the 20th century by FIFA and the International Olympic Committee awarded him the title of "best sportsman of the 20th century".
After Football
Having become a legend after his retirement in 1977, he devoted himself to television acting and aspired to be a singer.
Between 1994 and 1998, during the presidency of Fernando Henrique Cardoso , he was extraordinary Minister of Sports.
He was made a Knight of the British Empire, a Citizen of the World by the UN, an Ambassador for Education, Science, Culture and Good Wishes by UNESCO, an Ambassador for Ecology and the Environment by the UN (1992) and an Ambassador for Sport at the World Economic Forum in Davos (2006).
In 2004, he was commissioned by FIFA to compile a list of the 125 best living footballers, as part of the celebrations of the institution's centenary.
Golden Ball
On 13 January 2014, at the FIFA awards, he was awarded an honorary Ballon d'Or for his great career.
Couples and Children
He married Rosemeri Cholbi in 1966 and they divorced in 1978. They had three children: Kelly Cristina, Edinho and Jennifer.
In 1994 he married Assiria Seixas Lemos, with whom he had twins Josua and Celeste. He also had relationships with the famous Brazilian singer Xuxa and with two beauty queens: Deise Nunes de Souza and Flavia Cavalcanti during the 1980s.
He is recognized as having two daughters out of wedlock and was legally forced to acknowledge paternity of one of them, Sandra Regina Machado, who died of cancer on 17 October 2006.
In 2016, at the age of 73, he married Marcia Aoki, a 41-year-old businesswoman of Japanese origin.
His son Edinho (Edson Cholbi Nascimento) was arrested in 2005 for drug trafficking. In May 2014, he was sentenced to 33 years and four months in prison for money laundering from drug trafficking.
Health
On December 8, 2021, he was admitted to the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo to continue his treatment for a colon tumor detected in September of that year.
In the last weeks of 2022, he was hospitalized again for advanced cancer and in very critical condition. The Albert Einstein Hospital, where he was admitted, reported that Pelé's colon cancer had progressed, and that he was also treated for kidney and heart dysfunction. Pelé was admitted on November 29 for a re-evaluation of his chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer detected in September of the previous year and to treat a respiratory infection resulting from a Covid infection.
Death
Edson Arantes do Nascimento died on December 29, 2022 at the Sao Paulo hospital where he was admitted after the treatment he was undergoing failed.