Pelé was the recipient of the International Peace Award in 1978. "That gave me a lot of confidence", Pelé said, "I knew then not to be afraid of whatever might come".When the 1957 season started, Pelé was given a starting place in the first team and, at the age of 16, became the top scorer in the league. See This number was inferred from a Santos fixture list from Statistics from 1957 to 1974 for the Taça de Prata, Taça Brasil and Copa Libertadores were taken from Soccer Europe website. He was named after the American inventor Thomas Edison.

Ferenc Puskás, the Real Madrid and Hungary legend, summed up Pelé’s legacy in more simpler words: “The greatest player in history was [Alfredo] Di Stefano. Explore RELATED: Read the AJC’s full Black History Month series Brazil’s soccer star Pele kicks the ball over his head during a game in September 1968, location unknown. J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE / ASSOCIATED PRESS 1997Soccer great Pele visits Atlanta for an exhibition match in 1968. Pele is the goddess of fire, lighting, and volcanoes in Hawaiian indigenous religion. He was 17 when he scored a “hat trick,” three goals, in a 1958 World Cup match, the youngest person to achieve such a feat. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Pele is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest athletes. Chandler For soccer fans around the world, the argument for the best player in the sport’s history is a hotly contested one. He led In addition to having been named a national treasure by the Brazilian government (1958), Pelé was such a huge international star that when his club team, Pelé made his international debut in 1957 at age 16 and the following year played his first game in the World Cup finals in Pelé’s electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals made him a star around the world. ""My name is Ronald Reagan, I'm the President of the United States of America. Even black people can survive and become rich in a so called white man’s countries. He was named after the American inventor Thomas Edison. Quick Facts Name Pelé Birth Date October 23, 1940 (age 79) Place of Birth Três Corações, Brazil AKA Pelé Nickname "Pérola Negra" "O Rei" "Black Pearl" In 1992, he was appointed a UN ambassador for ecology and the environment.In December 2000, Pelé and Maradona shared the prize of The tables below record every goal Pelé scored in major club competitions for Santos and the New York Cosmos. Pelé's statistics of goals and appearances differ between sources mostly due to friendly games.

Still, he was a big draw and raised the sport’s profile in the United States.In October 1977, Pelé played his final game with the Cosmos in an exhibition match against his former pro club, Santos. With a career total of 1,280 games, he may have been the world's most popular athlete in his prime.

Blessed with the same athletic gifts his father had, Pelé was asked to join a professional club, Santos, as a teenager and his fortunes changed for the better.In 1958, at just 17, Pelé exploded in a pair of crucial games en route to the World Cup. Sandra Machado, who was born from an affair Pelé had in 1964 with a housemaid, Anizia Machado, fought for years to be acknowledged by Pelé, who refused to submit to At the age of 73, Pelé announced his intention to marry 41-year-old Marcia Aoki, a Japanese-Brazilian importer of medical equipment from In June 2013, he was criticized in public opinion for his conservative views.In 1977, Brazilian media reported that Pelé had his right In 1993, Pelé publicly accused the Brazilian football administrator Pelé has published several autobiographies, starred in documentary films, and composed musical pieces, including the The most notable area of Pelé's life since football is his ambassadorial work. On 21 February 1966, Pelé married Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi.From 1981 to 1986, Pelé was romantically linked with TV presenter Pelé had at least two more children from former affairs. While predominantly a striker, he could also drop deep and take on a Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on 23 October 1940, in According to Pelé, indoor football presented difficult challenges; he said it was a lot quicker than football on the grass and that players were required to think faster because everyone is close to each other in the pitch. Pelé, called "the Black Pearl," was one of the greatest soccer players in the history of the game. Pele, an Afro-Brazilian, a racial minority in his homeland, has openly discussed racism he faced in his career, but some Afro-Brazilians and others believe “O Rei” has been self-muted when it comes to calling out racial discrimination.“He shows no solidarity with the cause, black people, or even social issues in general,” Paulo Rogerio, executive director of Brazil’s Instituto Mídia Étnica, said in a July 2014 article on NewsOne.com, a website devoted to African-American affairs and culture. "Boys Who Rocked the World: Heroes from King Tut to Bruce Lee". p. 140. Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on 23 October 1940, in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil, the son of Fluminense footballer Dondinho (born João Ramos do Nascimento) and Celeste Arantes. Pelé (left) playing for Santos FC in a match against the Oakland Clippers at the Oakland Coliseum, California, 1967.This article was most recently revised and updated by He discovered in the 2000s that the word meant "miracle" in Hebrew.Pelé would stop in the middle of a run-up to a penalty kick before shooting the ball; goalkeepers complained that this gave strikers an unfair advantage, however, and in the 1970s, FIFA banned this move from competitions.The 1964 Torneio Rio-São Paulo was held jointly with Soccer Europe compiled this list from The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.Statistics from 1957 to 1974 for the Taça de Prata, Taça Brasil and Copa Libertadores were taken from Soccer Europe website. For the Hawaiian goddess, see "O Rei" redirects here.

More than four decades after his playing days ended, Pele is still universally described as soccer’s greatest player.He’s frequently included in conversations and lists as one of the 20th century’s greatest athletes.