Interesting Facts About Pelé

, , Leave a comment

800px-Pelé_&_Lula

• Who is Pelé?
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pelé, was considered by many of being the greatest football player of all times. Born on October 23, 1940 in Três Corações, Brazil he was the first child of João Ramos (Dondinho) and Dona Celeste Arantes.. His father was a former football player who played for the Brazilian Team Fluminense and was the one who introduced to him the world of football.

• Name Origin
Pelé’s original name Edson Arantes do Nascimento was derived from the famous American inventor, Thomas Edison. His family gave him the nickname of Dico which has been replaced by his friends as Pelé. When he was a child, he was occasionally pronouncing the name of his favorite football player named Vasco da Gama wrong, which instead of the name Bile he was saying it as Pele, thus earning his new nickname.

• Childhood Days
Born in poverty, the young Pelé can’t even afford his own ball. So to further improve his playing skills, Pelé made a ball out of large sock filled with crumpled newspaper or dirty rugs. Also, Pelé worked by shining shoes for a penny so that he could help his family.

• A Thousand Goals

Pelé historical 1,000th goal took place at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The crowd expected the goal to be some kind of trick but it was a normal shot for the goal. A mob came right after his goal and carried their idol up, Pelé said that his 1,000th goal was dedicated for all the kids in the street of Brazil.

• Halted a War
Pelé flown to Lagos, Nigeria in 1967 to play an exhibition match, a 48-hour ceasefire was made in order for both sides of the civil war to watch the game, making him the only one to stop a civil war all by himself.

• 1958 World Cup

Pelé entered his first world cup in 1958. He played under the Brazilian national team and earned himself six incredible goals throughout the tournament. He became the youngest World Cup scorer at the age of 17. After the game, Pelé confessed that it was like living on a dream to be on the World Cup and from that day, he was crowned the King of Soccer.

• Start of the Journey

Pelé found himself in the Bauru Athletic Club Juniors which is coached by the former member of the Brazilian national team, Waldemar de Brito. He led the team to several consecutive victories from 1954 to 1956. Amazed by Pelé’s young talent, De Brito brought him to the Santos Football Club saying that the boy will someday be the greatest football player in the world. Pelé signed a contract for the Santos FC in June 1956.

• 1966 World Cup
On Pelé’s third World Cup, he was tackled aggressively in the tournament by defenders of opposing teams causing him to get injured. The team still managed to win the finals despite of their key player out of the game.

• Last World Cup
The last World Cup win of Pelé were dated in the year 1970. He waited four years for his final international match, Though Pelé only contributed one goal at the finals, and it became Brazil’s 100th World Cup goal which is a huge achievement for the country.

• Unbeaten Record
There was only one record that Pelé cannot beat, and it was the record of his father. Pelé’s father was a former Brazilian football player who scored five times in a game using his head.

Tea Time Quiz

[forminator_poll id="23176"]
 

Leave a Reply