Things you may not know about late Brazilian star, Pele
Pele was the Sao Paulo state top scorer 11 times: 1957 (17 goals), 1958 (58), 1959 (45), 1960 (33), 1961 (47), 1962 (37), 1963 (22), 1964…
Pele
Brazilian football icon Pele died on Thursday at the age of 82.
“Everything we are is thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace,” daughter Kely Nascimento wrote on Instagram.
Below is the fact file of Pele, including facts you may not know about the legendary Brazilian footballer widely regarded as the greatest player of all time:
Personal information
His full name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento.
He was born on October 21, 1940, in Tres Coracoes, Brazil.
Pele married twice – Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi (1966-1982) and Assira Lemos Seixas (1994 – present).
He has three sons and three daughters.
Club career
Pele played at Santos from 1956 to 1974.
He then moved to New York Cosmos in 1975 and left in 1977.
Pele won the Intercontinental Cup in 1962 and 1963.
He was the Copa Libertadores winner in 1962 and 1963.
He was a Sao Paulo state champion with Santos in 1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1973.
Pele was the Sao Paulo state top scorer 11 times: 1957 (17 goals), 1958 (58), 1959 (45), 1960 (33), 1961 (47), 1962 (37), 1963 (22), 1964 (34), 1965 (49), 1969 (26), 1973 (11).
He was also a Brazilian Cup winner in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1968.
In 1977, he won the North American Soccer League.
International career
Pele won 92 caps for Brazil, scoring 77 goals.
He got his first cap on 7/7/1957 in Brazil’s 1-2 loss to Argentina.
His last cap was on 18/7/1971 in Brazil’s 2-2 with Yugoslavia.
Pele won the World Cup three times (1958, 1962, 1970).
He was a Copa America finalist with his country in 1959.
Distinctions
Pele was named athlete of the century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999
He is FIFA Player of the Century (2000).
He got an Honorary Ballon d’Or winner in 2014.
Pele is the only player to win three World Cups.
He is the youngest goalscorer in a World Cup final and the youngest World Cup winner (age 17 in 1958).
The forward had 1,281 career goals in 1,363 matches (according to FIFA).
He is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer (77 goals).
In 1959, he scored 127 goals in a calendar year.
He scored eight goals in one game (Santos 11 Botafogo 0, November 1964).
Two Guinness World Records
In 2013, Pele was honoured with two Guinness World Records certificates during a surprise presentation at the annual HMV Football Extravaganza (FE) event in London.
By the end of his career, Pelé had won three FIFA World Cups with Brazil (in 1958, 1962 and 1970), earning him the most wins by any player.
Pele broke many records on the soccer field. The four goals Pelé scored in his 1956 professional debut only set the stage for the 1,283 total goals he’d go on to rack up over the years.
There is some debate over Guinness’ total number, however, since multiple outlets reported that he scored more than 500 of those goals in “unofficial friendlies and tour games,” rather than in professional competition.
Movies stunt
Pele starred in Escape to Victory, a World War II drama about a team of prisoners of war who play their Nazi captors in a football match. Unsurprisingly, he played the team’s star attacker, Corporal Luis Fernandez, who hailed from Trinidad and Tobago.
However, Pele made a cameo appearance in the film Mike Bassett: England manager, in which he was interiewed by the broadcaster Martin Bashir. He laughs off England’s chances of winning the World Cup.
Coming out of retirement
Pele came out of international retirement to play one last game for Brazil on October 6, 1976 against club side Flamengo, who won the match 2-0. His last international game for Brazil, however, was a 2-2 draw with Yugoslavia on July 18, 1971.