Former Brazilian footballer Pele waves to the crowd before the start of the Under-17 boys final match of the Subroto Cup in New Delhi on October 16, 2015. Photo: AFP
Pele was born on October 23, 1940 to Fluminense football player João Ramos do Nascimento (better known as Dondinho) and Celeste Arantes. He started playing for the Brazilian club Santos at the age of 15 and the Brazilian national team at 16. While he was originally named after American inventor Thomas Edison, his family nicknamed him ‘Dico’. However, it was ‘Pele’ that eventually stuck with him after his friends gave him the name because of the way he pronounced the name of former Vasco Da Gama goalkeeper Bilé. In his later years, he was also called ‘The Black Pearl’, the ‘King of Football’ or ‘The King’. In this photo, Brazilian football star, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé (L), brandishes the World Cup trophy on March 30, 1971 during a parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris. Photo: AFP
Pele’s greatness is associated with his skills on field, which not only amazed fans but also fellow players from Brazil and around the world. When he started playing for local clubs really early, he was known for his dribbling skills with the ball and for his vision while assisting his teammates. He was also known for anticipating the opposition's play and regularly improvising, a quality he credits to playing futsal (indoor football on hard court) during his early days. The Brazilian great usually played as a striker or attacking midfielder but was also instrumental in being a playmaker very often, and could play any position, according to his coaches. This picture taken on November 27, 2019 shows a jersey of Brazilian football legend Pele, and a pair of football shoes of Argentinian football player Omar Sivori, during a preview of Sport Memorabilia items, at the Bolaffi auction house in Turin. Photo: AFP
Over the years, when he represented Brazil in the 1958 and 1962 FIFA World Cups, his popularity grew, and Pele was sought after by many clubs including Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United and Inter Milan. However, it never happened because Santos’ club fans opposed it after the latter was close to finalising a deal. The Brazilian president Jânio Quadros at the time declared him as ‘a national treasure’ in 1961 to prevent him from being transferred to another country. Here is a video grab made available by the Netflix communication department on January 13, 2021, showing Brazilian former footballer Pele celebrating. Photo: AFP
Pele has many records to his credit. On the global stage, he is the only player to win three FIFA World Cups with the national team in 1958, 1962 and 1970. It is not surprising that he is also the all-time top scorer for his boyhood club Santos with 643 goals in 659 games and the national team with 77 goals in 92 games. He also holds the Guinness World Record for scoring 1,279 goals (including friendlies) in 1,363 games – the most career goals by a football player. A picture of Pele's wax statue unveiled on the 50th anniversary of the 1970 World Cup victory at the Selecao Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 20, 2020. Photo: AFP
While Pele makes headlines around the world, he also has a close connection to India. In September 1977, he visited India while he was playing for the New York Cosmos team and played a friendly against Mohun Bagan, one of India’s most popular football clubs from Calcutta. He was greeted by fans from the airport all the way to the ground and the match ended 2-2. However, India has had many fans of Brazil not only in Kolkata but also in Kerala and several murals make an appearance in many parts of the states. In 2015, he visited Delhi and Kolkata in India after 38 years. Former Brazilian footballer Pele waves to the crowd before the start of the Under-17 boys final match of the Subroto Cup in New Delhi on October 16, 2015. Photo: AFP
Pele has not only received many accolades but was greatly acknowledged by some of the greatest footballers of all time during his career, apart from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo in recent times. Among the many, Hungarian great Ferenc Puskás said, "The greatest player in history was Di Stéfano. I refuse to classify Pelé as a player. He was above that." Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, who played along the same time as Pele, said, “Pelé was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic.” The Brazilian great passed away on October 29 after spending weeks in the hospital as his condition worsened from battling with cancer. Supporters of Brazil display a banner with an image of Brazilian football legend Pele as they wait for the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifier football match against Chile, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on October 10, 2017. Photo: AFP
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