Sao Paulo ∙ Football legend Pele (82) has died. He had been hospitalized for a few days with a urinary tract infection. He died in a hospital in São Paulo. Pele’s agent, Joe Fraga, confirmed the death.
Pele is one of the greatest footballers the world has ever seen. Pele broke into the Brazilian soccer team while impressing for his first professional club, Santos. When Pelé wore the Brazil shirt for the first time on July 7, 1957, he was only sixteen years old. The first match was against traditional rivals Argentina. Brazil lost 1-2 against Argentina that day, but Pelé debuted by scoring the only goal for Brazil. In 1958, at the age of seventeen, he captured the attention of the entire soccer world with his World Cup final against Sweden.
Pele was the first to give Brazil, one of the greatest teams of all time, the World Cup. Brazil won the World Cup three times under Pele. First in 1958, then in 1962 and finally in 1970. But in 1962, due to an injury, Pelé withdrew during the World Cup. Pelé, who participated in a total of four World Cups (1958, 62, 66, 70) and played in fourteen games, is still the wonder of the World Cup. Pele also holds a handful of World Cup records.
From shoe shiner to soccer player
Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born on October 23, 1940 in the city of Tres Correas and played in four World Cups with the most goals. With a world record three cup wins, he took soccer to heaven and proclaimed, “Football, what a beautiful game!”
From the age of seven, he grew up showing his senses with football. Those indrajalams would become football legends later! Pele was lucky to be born as the son of Dontinho, João Remos do Nascimento, who was a mid-level professional footballer. Dontinho, who wandered from city to city in search of life, finally found refuge in Bourou, where the black boy, nicknamed ‘Dico’, hit the first ball in the streets on 7 September. But when his father stopped playing due to injury, Pelé’s initial destiny was to start a life as a shoe shiner on streets and train stations; Ball in left hand, shoe polish kit in right hand! However, as he continued to play barefoot teams on the street, his friends gave him another name: Pele. They meant foot, earth or soil. At the age of 11, Pele, a goalscoring machine, was born in a junior tournament sponsored by the Mayor of Bournemouth!
The boy was destined to score 1281 goals in the future. A historic moment was born when his father’s friend and Brazil’s 1934 World Cup teammate, Varder de Brito, caught a glimpse of the hottest soccer star in the world at the age of eleven. Accustomed to wearing only trousers and a big toe, Pelé first wore full trousers, a shirt and shoes when he arrived at the Santos club at the age of fifteen! Training days later, seals of approval. First in junior and amateur teams. Then he became the youngest professional player in Santos’ full squad. A regular member of the professional team at the age of sixteen, the national team number 10 jersey at the age of seventeen. It was all the early days of world recognition that the number 10 shirt was Pele’s alone. In football, the number 10 players have become Pele’s representatives with gold glitter!
∙ Results
Won World Cup: 1958, ’62, ’70
America’s Cup top scorer: 1959
Total World Cup matches: 14
Win: 12, Draw: 1, Loss: 1
World Cup goals: Sweden ’58 6, Chile ’62 1
England ’66 1 , Mexico ’70 4 , 12 in total
∙ Praise
FIFA Player of the Century, FIFA Order of Merit: 2004
IOC Athlete of the Year, South American footballer: 1973
FIFA World Cup Player of the Year: 1970
FIFA World Cup Second Best Player: 1958
Total Goals: (team, match, goals)
Santos Club 1114 1088, Brazil national team 112 95
New York Cosmos 64 40
Other teams (Army XI, Allstar XI etc.) 73 58
Total 1363 1281
Summary in English: Brazilian football legend Pelé dies at the age of 82
