Pelé: Athlete of the Century

Named Athlete of the Century by the international media and various sporting bodies, former soccer player Edson Arantes do Nascimento—or Pelé as he is more commonly known—is considered the most famous Brazilian in the world.

Among the former player's awards are the Cross of the Order of the Hungarian Republic, France's Knight of the Legion of Honor, and the Knight Order of the British Empire, which he received from Queen Elizabeth II herself at a ceremony in the UK.

Pelé's early years were spent not only in Três Corações, but also in the rural town of Lorena (São Paulo State) and São Lourenço (Minas Gerais State), where his father played as a center forward for local clubs Esporte Clube Hepacaré and Vasco da Gama de São Lourenço, respectively.

An early awareness of poverty meant that, even as a small boy, Pelé did odd jobs to contribute to the family income, whether that was shining shoes or selling peanuts.

“Youngster Pelé Is Off to Santos” was the story that a Bauru newspaper ran about the star's move to Santos Soccer Club, based at the Vila Belmiro Stadium.

Pelé’s Santos story began on July 22, 1956, when Waldemar de Brito—the then Baquinho manager who had played as a center forward for Brazil at the 1934 World Cup—brought him in to play for the club.

Pelé is hugged by Paulo Machado de Carvalho—the businessman who headed the Brazilian delegation at the 1958 and 1962 World Cups—after thrashing Guarani FC 7-1 in Campinas (São Paulo State) to win the Paulista Championship for the first time.

On Wednesday November 19, 1969, there was a party atmosphere among the 65,000 spectators in Rio de Janeiro's Maracanã Stadium for the match between Vasco da Gama and Santos. Journalists from all around the world were there when Pelé, at the age of 29, scored the long-awaited 1,000th goal of his career after the home side's center half, Fernando Silva, gave away a penalty.

On October 2, 1974, Pelé played his last game in a Santos shirt in the match against Ponte Preta. Santos won the game 2-0, but Pelé only played the first 21 minutes. Clearly moved, Pelé did a lap of honor of the ground where he had become a legend.

In June 1975, a year after leaving Santos, Pelé signed a multimillion-dollar contract with the New York Cosmos, a North American club that was looking to expand soccer in the US.

During a visit back to Brazil later in 1975, Pelé once again put on a Santos shirt for an exhibition game in Salvador against Bahia, in the Governor Roberto Santos Tournament, also known as the Hunger Tournament (Torneio da Fome). The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Pelé played his last competitive match on August 28, 1977, when he helped Cosmos to a 2-1 win over Seattle Sounders in the North American League. But the star’s real farewell was in a friendly between Cosmos and Santos on October 1 in New York.

In 1957, Pelé was just 16 when he was called on by the manager of Brazil's national team, Vicente Feola. That same year, he won his first international trophy, the Rocca Cup—a friendly between Brazil and Argentina.

In the 1962 World Cup in Chile, an injury Pelé sustained in the match against the former Czechoslovakia put an end to his participation in the tournament. Four years later, at the 1966 World Cup in the UK, Brazil went out in the group stages following a 3-1 defeat to Portugal.

The Brazilian team started their 1970 World Cup in Mexico—which would be Pelé’s last—by beating the former Czechoslovakia 4-1 on June 3, 1970.

Pelé’s first marriage was to Rosemeri Cholbi in 1966. The couple would go on to have three children: Kelly Cristina, Edinho (the former Santos goalkeeper), and Jennifer, who was born in 1978—the year her parents separated. Pelé also had two other daughters from other relationships: Flávia Kurtz and Sandra Regina, who died in 2006.

In 1994, he had twins, Celeste and Joshua, with his second wife, psychologist Assíria Lemos. Pelé lived with his third wife, businesswoman Marcia Cibele Aoki until his death on December 29, 2022.