Pelé

Edson Arantes do Nascimento born 23 October 1940 29 December 2022 known as Pelé was a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled the greatest by FIFA he was among the most successful and popular sports figures of the 20th century In 1999 he was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and was included in the Time list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century In 2000 Pelé was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History Statistics IFFHS and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century His total of 1279 goals in 1363 games which included friendlies is recognised as a Guinness World Record Pelé began playing for Santos at age 15 and the Brazil national team at 16 During his international career he won three FIFA World Cups 1958 1962 and 1970 the only player to do so Pelé is the alltime leading goalscorer for Brazil with 77 goals in 92 games At club level he is Santos alltime top goalscorer with 643 goals from 659 games In a golden era for Santos he led the club to the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores and to the 1962 and 1963 Intercontinental Cup Credited with connecting the phrase The Beautiful Game with football Pelés electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals made him a star around the world and his teams toured internationally in order to take full advantage of his popularity During his playing days Pelé was for a period the bestpaid athlete in the world Since retiring in 1977 Pelé has been a worldwide ambassador for football and has made many acting and commercial ventures In 2010 he was named the Honorary President of the New York Cosmos Averaging almost a goal per game throughout his career Pelé was adept at striking the ball with either foot in addition to anticipating his opponents movements on the field While predominantly a striker he could also drop deep and take on a playmaking role providing assists with his vision and passing ability and he would also use his dribbling skills to go past opponents In Brazil he is hailed as a national hero for his accomplishments in football and for his outspoken support of policies that improve the social conditions of the poor His emergence at the 1958 World Cup where he became the first black global sporting star was a source of inspiration Throughout his career and in his retirement Pelé received several individual and team awards for his performance in the field his recordbreaking achievements and legacy in the sport From Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia