Our Footie Heroes - Pele

Born on October 21st, 1940, in Tres Coracoes, Brazil,
Edson Arantes do Nascimento is simply Pelé.
He knew his parents named him after Thomas Edison but he has no clue where the nickname Pelé came from. Nevertheless, in a country full of Football artists, he remains the master. He could dribble, shoot, head, pass and simply control the ball in a manner never seen before.
From humble beginnings (he first ball was a sock stuffed with newspaper), Pelé truly created The Beautiful Game. He signed with Santos at 15 years of age, was selected to the national team at 16 years of age, and won the World Cup at 17 years of age. At this competition in Sweden in 1958, he scored THE greatest goal in the final game.
Pelé played all of his club football in Brazil with Santos (declared a national treasure by the government in 1962, he was prevented from leaving the country). He achieved much glory with Santos, winning the World Club Championship in 1962 and 1963. But the Master relished one stage and only one…the World Cup.
In the 1962 edition, he was injured in the 1st round but Brazil went onto win (and FIFA later awarded him a winner’s medal)In 1966 in England, he was literally kicked out of the tournament by merciless tackling.In 1970, Brazil defeated Italy in the final game to become the 1st country to win 3 World Cups and therefore gain permanent possession of the Jules Rimet Trophy.
Pelé retired from football in 1974 but was convinced to return to the pitch to help elevate the game in the football backwater country of America.
During his 3 years with the New York Cosmos, he laid the foundation for America to become a football nation.During his career, Pelé scored over 1000 goals.His impression though remains much greater than any a scoreboard could represent.
Pelé is the most beautiful player in the world’s most beautiful game.