Football
Brazil mourns Pelé, who made every part of the country proud
With Pelé’s death, Brazilians have lost a piece of their hearts.
On Rio de Janeiro’s Ipanema beach, the news broke when Paulo Vinicius was playing soccer with his 9-year-old nephew.
“Pelé represents the best of Brazil: its people, its working class,” said Vinicius, 38, a physical-education instructor. “Pelé gives a sense of identity to the Brazilian people.”
In the coastal city of Santos, where Pelé made his name, Nicolas Oliveira, 18, was outside the stadium along with roughly 200 others. Oliveira said even replays of Pelé’s sensational playing make him swell with emotion.
Read: Pele: The Greatest Football Legend of All Time
“Pelé is a Black man from the interior of Minas Gerais state,” Oliveira said. “I’m here because of what he did, for the soccer he played, for the soccer he improved and for the future players he helped mold and inspire.”
Everton Luz, a 41-year-old lawyer, was crying outside the hospital with a Santos club flag wrapped around him. He had come directly from work to pay tribute to the player whose performances had electrified his own dad, and prompted decades of stories.
Luz recounts those stories to his own two children, and shows them videos of the idol. He recalled seeing Pelé in person once, watching a game at a stadium.
“We managed to get close to his box, and he waved goodbye,” Luz said. “He was an example of the Brazilian, of what we could become.”
'Greatest of all time': Pelé as described by his peers
Pele has been praised over the decades by everyone from world leaders to artists. Here are superlatives from over the years about Pele, who died Thursday in Brazil at age 82:
___
“To watch him play was to watch the delight of a child combined with the extraordinary grace of a man in full.” — Nelson Mandela.
___
“I told myself before the game, he’s made of skin and bones just like everyone else — but I was wrong.” — Italy's Tarcisio Burgnich, after playing against Pele in the 1970 World Cup Final.
___
“Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory: Instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries.” — Andy Warhol.
Read more: Pelé remembered for transcending football around world
___
“I sometimes feel as though football was invented for this magical player.” — Sir Bobby Charlton, retired England great who won 1966 World Cup and Ballon d’Or in same year.
___
“Pelé was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic.” — Johan Cruyff, the late Dutch star and standout manager who won the Ballon d’Or three times.
___
“He is the most complete player I ever saw.” — Retired German great Franz Beckenbauer.
___
“If you take the qualities of Cristiano Ronaldo and (Lionel) Messi, put them together, then you’d have a player to compare to Pelé!” — Retired Brazil forward Tostao.
___
“The best player ever? Pelé. (Lionel) Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are both great players with specific qualities, but Pelé was better.” — Alfredo Di Stefano, the late Argentine star for Real Madrid.
___
“His great secret was improvisation. Those things he did were in one moment. He had an extraordinary perception of the game.” — Brazil defender Carlos Alberto Torres.
___
“This debate about the player of the century is absurd. There’s only one possible answer: Pelé. He’s the greatest player of all time, and by some distance, I might add.” — Retired Brazil star Zico.
___
“The greatest player in history was Di Stefano. I refuse to classify Pelé as a player. He was above that.” — Hungary star Ferenc Puskas.
___
“We went up together to head a ball. I was taller, had a better impulse. When I came back down, I looked up in astonishment. Pelé was still there, in the air, heading that ball. It was like he could stay suspended for as long as he wanted to.” — Italy defender Giacinto Facchetti.
___
“When I saw Pelé play, it made me feel I should hang up my boots.” — Just Fontaine, the Morocco-born French star who scored 13 goals in six games in the 1958 World Cup.
___
“The moment the ball arrived at Pelé’s feet, football transformed into poetry.” — Italian poet Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Read more: Pelé set the standard for greatness in the land of his sport
___
“The difficulty, the extraordinary, is not to score 1,000 goals like Pelé — it’s to score one goal like Pelé.” — Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet.
___
“Pelé was the most complete player I’ve ever seen. Two good feet. Magic in the air. Quick. Powerful. Could beat people with skill. Could outrun people. Only 5-feet-8 inches tall, yet he seemed a giant of an athlete on the pitch. Perfect balance and impossible vision.” — Bobby Moore, captain of the 1966 World Cup champion team from England.
___
“I arrived hoping to stop a great man, but I went away convinced I had been undone by someone who was not born on the same planet as the rest of us.” — Benfica goalkeeper Costa Pereira after 5-2 loss to Santos.
___
“There’s Pelé the man, and then Pelé the player. And to play like Pelé is to play like God.” — Retired France star and three-time Ballon d’Or winner Michel Platini.
___
“Pelé is the greatest player in football history, and there will only be one Pelé in the world.” — Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal star forward.
Pelé remembered for transcending football around world
Pelé was remembered for a life beyond the field, for transcending the sport of soccer and becoming perhaps the most well-known person on Earth.
“Before Pelé, ’10′ was just a number,” current Brazil forward Neymar wrote following the soccer great’s death Thursday at the age of 82. “That line, beautiful, is incomplete. I would say that before Pelé soccer was just a sport. Pelé changed everything. He transformed soccer into art, entertainment. He gave voice to the poor, to the Black and above all he gave Brazil visibility. Soccer and Brazil elevated their standing thanks to the King! He is gone, but his magic will endure.”
Pelé scored 12 goals in 14 World Cup matches and is the only three-time world champion, winning titles in 1958, 1962 and 1970. His death was especially impactful for generations of Brazilian players who idolized him.
“Today Brazil waves goodbye to one of its most illustrious children,” wrote Romario, a 1994 World Cup champion who used Pelé’s full name in his post. “Edson Arantes do Nascimento made the world bow to his talent and took Brazilian soccer to the altar of gods. Throughout his life, Pelé inspired generations of athletes and deserves every tribute.”
Read more: Pelé set the standard for greatness in the land of his sport
Ronaldo, who led Brazil to a fifth World Cup title in 2002, described Pelé as “Unique. Genius. Skilled. Creative. Perfect. Unmatched.”
“What a privilege to come after you, my friend,” Ronaldo wrote. “Your talent is a school through which every player should go. Your legacy transcends generations. And that is the way you will continue to live.”
Pelé was a revered sports figure to a level probably not comparable to any athlete other than Muhammad Ali. As comfortable mingling with heads of states and celebrities as he was evading defenders, Pelé made an impact in capitals across continents.
“As one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, he understood the power of sports to bring people together,” former U.S. President Barack Obama wrote.
President Joe Biden tweeted: “For a sport that brings the world together like no other, Pelé’s rise from humble beginnings to soccer legend is a story of what is possible.”
Pelé’s greatest impact was in Brazil, a unifying figure celebrated during the 2014 World Cup.
“I saw Pelé play, live, at Pacaembu and Morumbi (stadiums),” former Brazil President and current President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wrote. “Play, no. I saw Pelé give a show. Because when he got the ball he always did something special, which often ended in a goal. ... Few Brazilians took the name of our country as far as he did. As different from Portuguese as one’s language was, foreigners from the four corners of the planet soon found a way to pronounce the magic word: ‘Pelé.’”
Read more: Pele: The Greatest Football Legend of All Time
For a half-century, people who knew the name of only one soccer player knew Pelé.
“He made people dream and continued to do that with generations and generations of lovers of our sport,” France coach Didier Deschamps said in a statement. “Who, as a child, didn’t dream of being Pelé? ... Pelé was the alliance of beauty and efficiency. His talent and his list of achievements will stay engraved in our minds forever.”
French soccer star Kylian Mbappé tied Pelé for sixth in career World Cup goals with a hat trick in this month’s loss to Argentina in the final. Four years ago, Mbappé became only the second teenager — after Pelé — to score a goal in a World Cup final.
“The king of football has left us but his legacy will never be forgotten,” Mbappé wrote.
When Pelé’s condition worsened last month during the World Cup in Qatar, get well messages were flashed on the sides of buildings in Doha. The English Football Association lit Wembley Stadium’s arch in Brazil’s colors on Wednesday night. FIFA, soccer’s governing body, changed its website’s homepage to photos of Pelé with a black background.
“Pelé did things that no other player would even dream of,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino wrote. “The sight of him punching the air in celebration is one of the most iconic in our sport, and is etched into our history. In fact, because televised football was still in his infancy at the time, we only saw small glimpses of what he was capable of.”
When Pelé played for the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League from 1975-77, he helped spark soccer’s rise in the United States, leading to the nation hosting the World Cup in 1994.
“Pele was truly a remarkable figure — on and off the field,” said FIFA Council member Sunil Gulati, a former U.S. Soccer Federation president. “The world has lost a once in a lifetime sportsman who leaves an extraordinary legacy.”
Pelé set the standard for greatness in the land of his sport
From spearheading the “beautiful game” to helping Brazil win three World Cup titles, Pelé embodied greatness in his sport.
The incarnation of the country’s style and elegance on the field, Pelé began enchanting Brazilian fans as a teenager.
He helped the Selecao lift the World Cup trophy for the first time in 1958, when he was only 17. He excelled for years and years — and by the time Pelé stopped playing in the late 1970s, he had become the standard against which every top Brazilian player has been measured.
Read more: World reacts to death of Brazilian soccer king Pele
No players have gotten close to replicating Pelé’s success with the national team.
There have been many great players wearing the yellow jersey over the years — from Garrincha to Didi to Zico to Romario to Ronaldo to Ronaldinho to Neymar — but none quite lived up to Pelé.
He is the only player to have won three World Cups, and remains Brazil’s all-time top scorer with 95 goals, 77 if counting only official matches against other national teams. The closest Brazilian goalscorer to Pelé is Neymar with 75 goals, followed by Ronaldo with 62.
Pelé played 114 matches with the national team and 92 of them were full international matches. He played in 14 World Cup games, scoring 12 goals, including in the finals in 1958 and 1970.
Pelé started as a reserve in 1958 but became a key part for the team that won the final against Sweden. His first goal in that game, in which he lobbed the ball over the head of a defender and then raced around him to volley it home, was voted as one of the best in World Cup history. He scored six goals overall in the tournament.
In 1962, Pelé scored in a 2-0 victory in the opening match against Mexico, but injured his left thigh in the second match against Czechoslovakia and missed the rest of the tournament that Brazil eventually won.
Read more: Pele's funeral and burial to take place in hometown Santos
The 1966 World Cup in England — won by the hosts — was a bitter for Pelé, who by then was already recognized as one of the world’s top players.
Pelé scored in the first game, a 2-0 victory over Bulgaria, but missed the second match — a loss to Hungary — because of an injury. He returned for the third match but was slowed by fouling and hard tackles in a loss to Portugal. Brazil was knocked out in the group stage and Pelé, angry at the rough treatment on the pitch, swore it would be his last World Cup.
He changed his mind and was rejuvenated in the 1970 World Cup, scoring four times, including the opening goal in the final against Italy.
Pelé’s last match in Brazil’s jersey was a friendly against the former Yugoslavia in 1971. He played the first half of the 2-2 draw at Maracana Stadium and couldn’t hold back tears as he went for a final victory lap with 140,000 fans pleading for him to keep playing.
A “thank you” message was played for Pelé through the stadium’s loudspeakers, and a huge banner was unfurled above the stadium with the words “Long Live the King.”
Pele: The Greatest Football Legend of All Time
Pele is one of the most famous and beloved athletes of all time. He is a football legend who has earned the nickname “The King of Football” for his incredible accomplishments on and off the pitch. Throughout his career, Pele has set records, won trophies, and inspired millions of people around the world. From his humble beginnings as a Brazilian footballer to becoming a global icon, Pele’s story is one of determination, dedication, and drive. “The King Pele” is more than just a football player; he is an inspirational figure who continues to be revered in the world of sports.
Framing the achievements and contributions of Pele in a short range is quite challenging. Still, let’s take a look at the life, career, and achievements of soccer legend Pele at a glance.
Pele's Early Life
Pele was born in a slum in Tres Coracoes, Brazil, on October 23, 1940, to be precise. As the first child of a poor family, Pele had to work in a tea shop as a child to make a living for his family. In addition to sweeping the railway station, he also worked cleaning shoes for a few days. Pele's full name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento. His parents named him after the world-famous scientist Thomas Alva Edison.
World reacts to death of Brazilian soccer king Pele
Reactions poured in from around the world to the death of Brazilian soccer legend Pele. He died of cancer in Brazil at age 82. His grace, athleticism and mesmerizing moves transfixed players and fans.
____
“A simple goodbye to the eternal King Pelé will never be enough to express the pain that hits the entire world of football at this moment. An inspiration for so many millions, a reference of yesterday, today, always. The affection he has always shown for me was reciprocal in every moment we shared, even at distance. He will never be forgotten and his memory will last for ever in each and everyone of us football lovers. Rest in peace, King Pelé.” — Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese soccer star.
___
“Your place is on God’s side. My eternal king. Rest in peace.” — 1970 World Cup winner Roberto Rivellino and teammate of Pele on the Brazilian national team.
___
“Before Pelé, ’10′ was just a number. I read that somewhere at some point in my life. But that line, beautiful, is incomplete. I would say that before Pelé football was just a sport. Pelé changed everything. He transformed football into art, entertainment. He gave voice to the poor, to the Black and above all he gave Brazil visibility. Football and Brazil elevated their standing thanks to the King! He is gone, but his magic will endure. Pelé is eternal!” — Brazilian star Neymar.
Read more: Pele's funeral and burial to take place in hometown Santos
___
“I had the privilege that younger Brazilians didn’t have: I saw Pelé play, live, at Pacaembu and Morumbi (stadiums). Play, no. I saw Pelé give a show. Because when he got the ball he always did something special, which often ended in a goal. I confess that I was angry with Pelé, because he always massacred my Corinthians. But, first and foremost, I admired him .... Few Brazilians took the name of our country as far as he did." — Brazil’s President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
__
"For a sport that brings the world together like no other, Pelé’s rise from humble beginnings to soccer legend is a story of what is possible. Today, Jill and I’s thoughts are with his family and all those who loved him." - US President Joe Biden.
___
"Pelé was one of the greatest to ever play the beautiful game. And as one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, he understood the power of sports to bring people together. Our thoughts are with his family and everyone who loved and admired him.” — Former U.S. President Barack Obama.
____
“The king of football has left us but his legacy will never be forgotten. RIP KING.” French player Kylian Mbappé.
___
“With the death of Pelé, soccer has lost one of its greatest legends, if not the greatest. Like all legends, the King seemed immortal. He made people dream and continued to do that with generations and generations of lovers of our sport. Who, as a child, didn’t dream of being Pelé?" — Didier Deschamps, former player and manager of the French national team.
___
“It will be very difficult to find another Pelé. Pelé had everything a player should have. Agile, jumped like no one, could kick with both legs, physically very strong and brave. There was no one like Pelé.” — Cesar Luis Menotti, Argentine coach and Pele teammate in the Santos football club in Brazil.
Read more: As 'The King,' Pelé enchanted fans and dazzled opponents
___
“Today football says goodbye to its most beautiful chapter. The man who charmed the world and changed the history of the game forever. You will always be the greatest, because 60 years ago, with all the difficulties you faced, you already did what only a few can do today. The man who dedicated his 1000th goal to children and made our country discover it could be much more." - Brazil player Richarlison.
___
“Thanks for his flair and his class. He left a mark even on the generations who weren’t lucky enough to see him play. Today the whole world mourns a legend named Pele.” - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
___
“Pelé is an incontestable symbol of our nation, a source of pride for all of us. Beyond his achievements as a legend of world sport, Pelé was an exemplary public officer, loyal to his principles, values and to our country. We all lose in his departure.” — Former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Pelé served as his sports minister.
__
“Football lost the greatest in its history today – and I a unique friend. Born in Três Corações, Pelé had three hearts: for football, for his family, for all people. One who played with the stars and always remained grounded. In 1977, I went to the United States. Because I really wanted to play in a team with Pelé at the New York Cosmos. That time by his side was one of the greatest moments of my career. We became U.S. champions together straight away, and Pelé called me his brother from that moment. It was an unimaginable honor for me." - West Germany star Franz Beckenbauer.
___
“Pelé had a magnetic presence and, when you were with him, the rest of the world stopped. His life is about more than football. He changed perceptions for the better in Brazil, in South America and across the world. His legacy is impossible to summarise in words. Today, we all mourn the loss of the physical presence of our dear Pelé, but he achieved immortality a long time ago and therefore he will be with us for eternity.” - FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
___
“I had the pleasure of meeting Pelé on a number of occasions in the 1980s and 1990s and our last meeting was on a working visit to Mexico in 2013 in Guadalajara. In each of our meetings I was struck by that same sense of joy with which he graced the football pitch.” - Ireland President Michael D. Higgins.
Read more: Pelé, Brazil’s mighty king of ‘beautiful game,’ has died
___
“Pele has died. The most divine of footballers and joyous of men. He played a game only a few chosen ones have come close to. 3 times he lifted the most coveted gold trophy in that beautiful yellow shirt. He may have left us but he’ll always have footballing immortality. RIP Pele.” - Former English player and broadcaster Gary Linker.
___
“RIP Pelé. A hero to so many and one of the greatest to ever grace the game.”- London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
___
“Pele was a truly magical footballer and a wonderful human being. It was an honour to have shared a pitch with him and I send my sincerest condolences to his family, friends and the Brazilian people.” - Sir Bobby Charlton, former English player.
___
“This is very sad news indeed…Pele was an unbelievable footballer; he had style, grace, flair and made everything look so easy. The precision in the way he played made him such a joy to watch. However more than anything he was a good man with a great presence and a fantastic smile.” - Denis Law, former Scottish player.
Pele's funeral and burial to take place in hometown Santos
The stadium where Brazilian soccer great Pelé played some of the best matches of his career will also hold his funeral on Monday and Tuesday.
Santos, the club where Pelé played in Brazil, said in a statement the public will be able to pay their final respects at Vila Belmiro Stadium, outside Sao Paulo.
Pelé, whose full name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, died Thursday after a long battle with cancer. He was 82.
Read more: As 'The King,' Pelé enchanted fans and dazzled opponents
Santos said the coffin carrying the three-time World Cup champion will leave Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo early Monday morning and will be placed in the center circle of the field.
Visitation will start Monday at 10 a.m. and finish the next day at the same time.
Pelé's casket will be carried through the streets of Santos and will pass in front of the home of his 100-year-old mother, Celeste. Recent reports in Brazilian media say Pelé's mother cannot leave her bed and is not lucid.
The burial will take place at the Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica, a vertical cemetery in Santos. Only family will attend.
Pelé has a home in Santos, where he lived most of his life. He spent his last years in the city of Guarujá.
Pelé had a colon tumor removed in September 2021. Neither his family nor the hospital have said whether it had spread to other organs. He returned to the Albert Einstein hospital on Nov. 29 with COVID-19 and a respiratory infection.
Read more: Pelé, Brazil’s mighty king of ‘beautiful game,’ has died
Last week, the hospital said in a statement his cancer had advanced.
Pelé led Brazil to World Cup victory in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and remains one of the team’s all-time leading scorers with 77 goals. Neymar tied Pelé’s record during this year's World Cup in Qatar.
As 'The King,' Pelé enchanted fans and dazzled opponents
Pelé was simply “The King.” He embraced “the beautiful game” of soccer in his 1958 World Cup debut for Brazil and never really let go.
He won a record three World Cups and was widely regarded as one of his sport's greatest players. His majestic and galvanizing presence set him among the most recognizable figures in the world.
Pelé died Thursday at 82. He had undergone treatment for colon cancer since 2021.
Pelé was among the game’s most prolific scorers and spent nearly two decades enchanting fans and dazzling opponents. His grace, athleticism and moves on soccer’s highest stage transfixed all. He orchestrated a fast, fluid style of play that revolutionized the sport — a flair that personified Brazilian elegance on the field.
He carried his country to soccer’s heights and became a global ambassador for his sport in a journey that began on the streets of Sao Paulo state, where he would kick a sock stuffed with newspapers or rags.
“Pelé changed everything. He transformed football into art, entertainment,” Neymar, a fellow Brazilian soccer player, said on Instagram. “Football and Brazil elevated their standing thanks to the King! He is gone, but his magic will endure. Pelé is eternal!”
Read more: Pelé, Brazil’s mighty king of ‘beautiful game,’ has died
In the conversation about soccer’s greatest player, only the late Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are mentioned alongside him.
Different sources, counting different sets of games, list Pelé’s goal totals anywhere between 650 (league matches) to 1,281 (all senior matches, some against low-level competition). When Maradona once interviewed Pelé, he playfully asked the Brazilian how he accumulated so many goals.
The player who would be dubbed “The King” was introduced to the world at 17 at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the youngest player ever at the tournament.
Pelé was the emblem of his country’s World Cup triumph of 1970 in Mexico. He scored in the final and set up Carlos Alberto with a nonchalant pass for the last goal in a 4-1 victory over Italy.
The image of Pelé in a bright-yellow Brazil jersey, with the No. 10 stamped on the back, remains alive with soccer fans everywhere. As does his trademark goal celebration — a leap with a right fist thrust high above his head.
Pelé’s fame was such that in 1967 factions of a civil war in Nigeria agreed to a brief cease-fire so he could play an exhibition match in the country. He was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in 1997. When Pelé visited Washington to help popularize the game in North America, it was the U.S. president who stuck out his hand first.
"You don’t need to introduce yourself because everyone knows who Pelé is,” Ronald Reagan said.
Pelé was Brazil’s first modern Black national hero but rarely spoke about racism in a country where the rich and powerful tend to hail from the white minority.
Opposing fans taunted Pelé with monkey chants at home and all over the world.
“He said that he would never play if he had to stop every time he heard those chants," said Angelica Basthi, one of Pelé’s biographers. "He is key for Black people’s pride in Brazil, but never wanted to be a flagbearer.”
Pelé’s life after soccer took many forms. He was a politician — Brazil’s Extraordinary Minister for Sport — a wealthy businessman, and an ambassador for UNESCO and the United Nations.
He had roles in movies, soap operas and even composed songs and recorded CDs of popular Brazilian music.
Pelé was an ambassador for his sport until his final years but as his health deteriorated his travels and appearances became less frequent. After needing a hip replacement, he started using a cane.
Read more: Pelé’s family gathers at hospital in Sao Paulo
He was often seen in a wheelchair during his final years and did not attend a ceremony to unveil a statue of him representing Brazil’s 1970 World Cup team.
“He gets very shy, he gets very embarrassed," his son Edinho told Globoesporte.com. "He doesn’t want to go out.”
Pelé spent his 80th birthday with a few relatives.
Pelé spent a month hospitalized in 2021 after surgery to remove a tumor from his colon. Pelé said he was ready “to play 90 minutes, plus extra time,” but soon started chemotherapy.
Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, in the small city of Tres Coracoes in the interior of Minas Gerais state on Oct. 23, 1940, Pelé grew up shining shoes to buy his modest soccer gear. His father was also a player.
Pelé’s talent drew notice when he was 11, and a local professional player brought him to Santos’ youth squads. Despite his youth and 5-foot-8 frame Pelé’ scored against grown men with the same ease he displayed against friends back home. He debuted with the Brazilian club at 15 in 1956, and the club quickly gained worldwide recognition.
The name Pelé came from him mispronouncing the name of a player called Bilé. He later became known simply as ‘O Rei’ – The King.
Pelé went to the 1958 World Cup as a reserve but became a key part for his country’s championship team. His first goal, in which he flicked the ball over the head of a defender and raced around him to volley it home, was voted as one of the best in World Cup history.
“When Pelé scored,” veteran Swedish midfielder Sigge Parling said, “I have to be honest and say I felt like applauding.”
The 1966 World Cup in England — won by the hosts — was a bitter one for Pelé, by then already considered the world’s top player. Brazil was knocked out at the group stage and Pelé, angry at fouls and hard tackles by Portugal, swore it was his last World Cup.
He changed his mind and was rejuvenated in the 1970 World Cup. In a game against England, he struck a header for a certain score, but the great goalkeeper Gordon Banks flipped the ball over the bar in an astonishing move. Pelé likened the save — one of the best in World Cup history — to a “salmon climbing up a waterfall.” Later, he scored the opening goal in the final against Italy, his last World Cup match.
Read more: Image of Pelé shines bright for Brazilian fans at World Cup
In all, Pelé played 114 matches with Brazil, scoring a record 95 goals — including 77 in official matches. Most of his goals came with Santos, which he led to five national titles, two Copa Libertadores trophies and two club world championships — all in the 1960s.
His run with Santos stretched over three decades until he went into semi-retirement after the 1972 season. Wealthy European clubs tried to sign him, but the Brazilian government intervened to keep him from being sold, declaring him a national treasure.
On the field, Pelé’s energy, vision and imagination drove a gifted Brazilian national team, with intricate passing combinations slicing defenses while leaving room for players to showcase flashy skills.
The fast, fluid style of play exemplified “O Jogo Bonito” — Portuguese for “The Beautiful Game.” And at the center of it all, like a maestro in command of his orchestra, was Pelé. It was his 1977 autobiography, “My Life and the Beautiful Game,” that made the phrase part of soccer’s lexicon.
In 1975, he joined the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. Although he was past his prime at 34 years old, Pelé briefly gave soccer a higher profile in North America before ending his career on Oct. 1, 1977, in an exhibition between the Cosmos and Santos. Among the dignitaries on hand was perhaps the only other athlete whose renown spanned the globe — Muhammad Ali.
Pelé had two daughters out of wedlock and five children from his first two marriages, to Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi and Assiria Seixas Lemos. He later married businesswoman Marcia Cibele Aoki.
Pelé, Brazil’s mighty king of ‘beautiful game,’ has died
Pelé, the Brazilian king of football who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century, died Thursday. He was 82.
The standard-bearer of “the beautiful game” had undergone treatment for colon cancer since 2021. He had been hospitalised for the last month with multiple ailments.
His agent Joe Fraga confirmed his death.
Widely regarded as one of football’s greatest players, Pelé spent nearly two decades enchanting fans and dazzling opponents as the game’s most prolific scorer with Brazilian club Santos and the Brazil national team.
His grace, athleticism and mesmerising moves transfixed players and fans. He orchestrated a fast, fluid style that revolutionised the sport — a samba-like flair that personified his country’s elegance on the field.
He carried Brazil to football’s heights and became a global ambassador for his sport in a journey that began on the streets of Sao Paulo state, where he would kick a sock stuffed with newspapers or rags.
In the conversation about football’s greatest players, only the late Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are mentioned alongside Pelé.
Different sources, counting different sets of games, list Pelé’s goal totals anywhere between 650 (league matches) and 1,281 (all senior matches, some against low-level competition.)
The player who would be dubbed “The King” was introduced to the world at 17 at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the youngest player ever at the tournament. He was carried off the field on teammates’ shoulders after scoring two goals in Brazil’s 5-2 victory over the host country in the final.
Injury limited him to just two games when Brazil retained the world title in 1962, but Pelé was the emblem of his country’s World Cup triumph of 1970 in Mexico. He scored in the final and set up Carlos Alberto with a nonchalant pass for the last goal in a 4-1 victory over Italy.
The image of Pelé in a bright, yellow Brazil jersey, with the No. 10 stamped on the back, remains alive with football fans everywhere. As does his trademark goal celebration -- a leap with a right fist thrust high above his head.
Pelé’s fame was such that in 1967 factions of a civil war in Nigeria agreed to a brief cease-fire so he could play an exhibition match in the country. He was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in 1997. When he visited Washington to help popularise the game in North America, it was the US president who stuck out his hand first.
“My name is Ronald Reagan, I’m the president of the United States of America,” the host said to his visitor. “But you don’t need to introduce yourself because everyone knows who Pelé is.”
Pelé was Brazil’s first modern Black national hero but rarely spoke about racism in a country where the rich and powerful tend to hail from the white minority.
Opposing fans taunted Pelé with monkey chants at home and all over the world.
“He said that he would never play if he had to stop every time he heard those chants,” said Angelica Basthi, one of Pelé’s biographers. “He is key for Black people’s pride in Brazil, but never wanted to be a flagbearer.”
Pelé’s life after football took many forms. He was a politician -- Brazil’s Extraordinary Minister for Sport -- a wealthy businessman, and an ambassador for UNESCO and the United Nations.
He had roles in movies, soap operas and even composed songs and recorded CDs of popular Brazilian music.
As his health deteriorated, his travels and appearances became less frequent. He was often seen in a wheelchair during his final years and did not attend a ceremony to unveil a statue of him representing Brazil’s 1970 World Cup team. Pelé spent his 80th birthday isolated with a few family members at a beach home.
Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, in the small city of Tres Coracoes in the interior of Minas Gerais state on October 23, 1940, Pelé grew up shining shoes to buy his modest football gear.
Pelé’s talent drew attention when he was 11, and a local professional player brought him to Santos’ youth squads. It didn’t take long for him to make it to the senior squad.
Despite his youth and 5-foot-8 frame, he scored against grown men with the same ease he displayed against friends back home. He debuted with the Brazilian club at 16 in 1956, and the club quickly gained worldwide recognition.
The name Pelé came from him mispronouncing the name of a player called Bilé.
He went to the 1958 World Cup as a reserve but became a key player for his country’s championship team. His first goal, in which he flicked the ball over the head of a defender and raced around him to volley it home, was voted as one of the best in World Cup history.
The 1966 World Cup in England -- won by the hosts -- was a bitter one for Pelé, by then already considered the world’s top player. Brazil was knocked out in the group stage and Pelé, angry at the rough treatment, swore it was his last World Cup.
Read more: Pelé’s family gathers at hospital in Sao Paulo
He changed his mind and was rejuvenated in the 1970 World Cup. In a game against England, he struck a header for a certain score, but the great goalkeeper Gordon Banks flipped the ball over the bar in an astonishing move. Pelé likened the save — one of the best in World Cup history — to a “salmon climbing up a waterfall.” Later, he scored the opening goal in the final against Italy, his last World Cup match.
In all, Pelé played 114 matches with Brazil, scoring a record 95 goals, including 77 in official matches.
His run with Santos stretched over three decades until he went into semi-retirement after the 1972 season. Wealthy European clubs tried to sign him, but the Brazilian government intervened to keep him from being sold, declaring him a national treasure.
On the field, Pelé’s energy, vision and imagination drove a gifted Brazilian national team with a fast, fluid style of play that exemplified “O Jogo Bonito” -- Portuguese for “The Beautiful Game.” His 1977 autobiography, “My Life and the Beautiful Game,” made the phrase part of football’s lexicon.
In 1975, he joined the New York Cosmos of the North American Football League. Although 34 and past his prime, Pelé gave football a higher profile in North America. He led the Cosmos to the 1977 league title and scored 64 goals in three seasons.
Pelé ended his career on Oct. 1, 1977, in an exhibition between the Cosmos and Santos before a crowd in New Jersey of some 77,000. He played half the game with each club. Among the dignitaries on hand was perhaps the only other athlete whose renown spanned the globe — Muhammad Ali.
Pelé would endure difficult times in his personal life, especially when his son Edinho was arrested on drug-related charges. Pelé had two daughters out of wedlock and five children from his first two marriages, to Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi and Assiria Seixas Lemos. He later married businesswoman Marcia Cibele Aoki.
Read more: Neymar ties Pelé's record but loses again at World Cup
Women's Football: Siraj Smrity Sangsad beat FC Brahmanbaria by 5-1 goal
Siraj Samrity Sangsad earned a huge 5-1 goal victory over FC Brahmanbaria in the Bashundhara Group Women's Football League' 2021-22 at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Shipahi Mohammad Mustafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur on Thursday
Prity made a hattrick scoring three goals in the 33rd, 88th and 90+2 minutes while Kanon and Munki netted two other goals for the winner while Sagorika netted the consolation goal for the losers.
Read more: Women's Football: Jamalpur beat Farashganj 2-0
In the day's other match, Cumilla United Club beat Farashganj Sporting Club by 2-1 goal at the same venue
Purnima and Trishna scored one each for the winners while Somali scored the lone goal for the losers.