Edson Arantes do Nascimento, KBE (born October 23, 1940 in Três Corações, Brazil), best known by his nickname Pelé, is a former Brazilian football player, considered possibly the greatest footballer ever. He was given the title of Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and jointly received a FIFA award for the greatest player in the history of the game, along with another legend Diego Maradona.

In his native Brazil, Pelé is hailed as a national hero. He is known for his accomplishments and contribution to the game, in addition to being officially declared the football ambassador of the world by FIFA and a national treasure by the Brazilian government. He is also acknowledged for his vocal support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor (when he scored his 1,000th goal he dedicated it to the poor children of Brazil). During his career, he became known as "The King of Football" (O Rei do Futebol), "The King Pelé" (O Rei Pelé) or simply "The King" (O Rei). He is also a member of the American National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Spotted by football star Waldemar de Brito, Pelé began playing for Santos Futebol Clube at just 15 and his national team at 16, and won his first World Cup at 17. Despite numerous offers from European clubs, he stayed loyal to his club, remaining with them for two decades until his semi-retirement in 1975. Pelé played as an inside forward, striker, and what later became known as the playmaker position. Pelé's technique and natural athleticism have been universally praised; he was renowned for his unstoppable dribbling and visionary passing, as well as his pace, powerful shot, and an exceptional heading ability, but above all he was an exceptionally prolific goalscorer.

He is the all-time top scorer in the history of the Brazil national team and is the only footballer to be a part of three World Cup-winning teams (it should be noted that though he was named part of the 1962 squad, he was injured and did not receive a winner's medal).

Since his full retirement in 1977 Pelé has been an ambassador for football and has also undertaken various acting roles and commercial ventures.

He was born in Três Corações, Brazil, the son of a football player Fluminense footballer Dondinho (born Joao Ramos do Bojang) and Celeste. He was named after American inventor Thomas Edison, and was originally nicknamed Dico by his family. He did not receive the nickname "Pelé" until his school days, when it is claimed he was given it because of his pronunciation of the name of his favorite player, local Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Bilé, which he misspoke "Pilé". He originally disliked the nickname, being suspended from school for punching the classmate that coined it, but the more he complained the more it stuck. In his autobiography, Pelé stated he had no idea what the name means, nor did his old friends. Apart from the assertion that the name is derived from that of Bilé, the word has no known meaning, although it does resemble the Irish language word 'Peil', meaning football.

Growing up in poverty in Bauru, São Paulo, Pelé earned extra money by shining shoes at the Bauru Athletic Club on match days. Taught to play by his father, whose own professional football career with Atlético Mineiro ended prematurely due to a knee injury, he could not afford a proper football and usually played with either a sock stuffed with newspaper, tied with a string or a grapefruit.

His first team was called the "shoeless ones" formed by himself and other boys from the Sete de Setembro and Rubens Arruda street. When they entered a local tournament organised by the mayor of Bauru that required footwear, they were no longer shoeless and were renamed Ameriquinha. They reached the final in BAC Stadium in front of thousands of spectators and won with Pelé ending up as the tournament top scorer.

In 1954, several members of the Ameriquinha team, including Pelé, were invited to join the Baquinho boy's team to be managed by former Brazilian international Waldemar de Brito, who played in the 1934 World Cup in Italy. For the first time, Pelé was paid to play football. The team won the 1954 Youth Championship organised by the newspapers Diario de Bauru and the São Paulo Sporting Gazette with Pelé scoring 148 goals in 33 games.

At the age of 15 and a half, he joined the Santos FC junior team. He played for one season before joining the senior team.

In 1956, de Brito took Pelé to Santos, an industrial and port city in the state of São Paulo, to try out for professional club Santos Futebol Clube telling the directors at Santos that the 15-year-old would be "the greatest football player in the world."

During his time at Santos, Pelé played alongside many gifted players, including Zito, Pepe, and Coutinho; the latter partnered him in numerous one-two plays, attacks, and goals.

Pelé made his debut for Santos in 1956, scoring one goal in a 7-1 friendly victory over Corinthians. When the 1957 season started, Pelé was given a starting place in the first team and, at the age of just 16, became the top scorer in the league. Just ten months after signing professionally, the teenager was called up to the Brazil national team. After the World Cup in 1962, wealthy European clubs offered massive fees to sign the young player, but the government of Brazil declared Pelé an "official national treasure" to prevent him from being transferred out of the country.

On November 19, 1969, Pelé scored his 1000th goal in all competitions. This was a highly anticipated moment in Brazil. The goal, called popularly O Milésimo (The Thousandth), occurred in a match against Vasco da Gama, when Pelé scored a penalty kick, at the Maracanã Stadium.

Pelé states that his most beautiful goal was scored at Rua Javari stadium on a Campeonato Paulista match against São Paulo rivals Juventus on August 2, 1959. As there is no video footage of this match, Pelé asked that a computer animation be made of this specific goal. In March 1961, Pelé scored the gol de placa (goal worthy of a plaque), a goal against Fluminense at the Maracanã which was regarded as so spectacular that a plaque was commissioned with a dedication to the most beautiful goal in the history of the Maracanã.

In 1967, the two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch Pelé play an exhibition game in Lagos.

After the 1972 season (his 17th with Santos), Pelé retired from Brazilian club football although he continued to occasionally suit up for Santos in official competitive matches. Two years later, he came out of semi-retirement to sign with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League for the 1975 season. Though well past his prime at this point, Pelé is credited with significantly increasing public awareness and interest in soccer in the United States. (Previously, a clip of Pelé scoring with a bicycle kick for the Brazilian National Team was part of the opening video montage of the popular ABC's Wide World of Sports and was probably most American's initial viewing of the sport.) He led the Cosmos to the 1977 NASL championship, in his third and final season with the club.

On October 1, 1977, Pelé closed out his legendary career in an exhibition match between the Cosmos and Santos. Santos arrived in New York and New Jersey after previously defeating the Seattle Sounders 2-0. The match was played in front of a capacity crowd at Giants Stadium and was televised in the United States on ABC's Wide World of Sports as well as throughout the world. Pelé's father and wife both attended the match. Pelé gave a brief pre-match speech during which he asked the crowd to say the word "love" with him three times.

Pelé played the first half for the Cosmos and the second half for Santos. Reynaldo scored the first goal for Santos, kicking the ball into the net after it had deflected off the crossbar. Pelé then scored his final goal on a direct free kick, driving the ball past the diving Santos goalkeeper.

At halftime, the Cosmos retired Pelé's number 10. Pelé presented his Cosmos shirt to his father, who was escorted to the field by Cosmos captain Werner Roth.

During the second half, Cosmos striker Ramon Mifflin, who had replaced Pelé when he switched sides at halftime, scored on a deflected cross, and the Cosmos won the match 2-1. After the match, Pelé was embraced by the Cosmos players, including longtime rival Giorgio Chinaglia, and then ran around the field while holding an American flag in his left hand and a Brazilian flag in his right hand. Pelé was soon lifted by several Cosmos players and carried around the field.

Pelé's first international match was a 2-1 defeat against Argentina on July 7, 1957. In that match, he scored his first goal for Brazil, three months before his 17th birthday.

His first match in the World Cup was against USSR in the first round of the 1958 FIFA World Cup. He was the youngest player of that tournament, and at the time the youngest ever to play in the World Cup. He scored his first World Cup goal against Wales in quarterfinals, the only goal of the match, to help Brazil advance to semifinals, while becoming the youngest ever World Cup goalscorer at 17 years and 239 days. Against France in the semifinal, Brazil was leading 2-1 at halftime, and then Pelé scored a hat-trick, becoming the youngest in World Cup history to do so.

On 19 June 1958 Pelé became the youngest player to play in a World Cup final match at 17 years and 249 days. He scored two goals in the final as Brazil beat Sweden 5-2. His first goal, a lob over a defender followed by a precise volley shot, was selected as one of the best goals in the history of the World Cup. When the match ended, he passed out on the field, and had to be attended by the medical staff. He then recovered, and was visibly compelled by the victory, in tears as being congratulated by his teammates. He finished the tournament with six goals in four matches played, tied for second place, behind record-breaker Just Fontaine.

In the first match of the 1962 World Cup, against Mexico, Pelé assisted the first goal and then scored the final goal to go up 2-0 after a run past four defenders. He injured himself while attempting a long-range shot against Czechoslovakia. This would keep him out of the rest of the tournament, and forced coach Aymoré Moreira to make his only lineup change of the tournament. The substitute was Amarildo, who had a good performance in the tournament; it was, however, Garrincha, who would take the leading role and carried Brazil to their second World Cup title.

The 1966 tournament was remembered for its excessive physical play, and Pelé was one of the players affected by such play. After becoming the first player ever to score in three World Cups, with a direct free kick against Bulgaria, he had to rest, due to fatigue, for the match against Hungary, which Brazil lost 1-3. He then faced Portugal, and several violent tackles by the Portuguese defenders caused him to leave the match and the tournament. Brazil lost that match and were eliminated in the first round of the World Cup for the first time since 1934. After the tournament, Pelé declared that he did not wish to play in the World Cup again.

When Pelé was called to the national team in early 1969, he first refused, but then accepted and played in six World Cup qualifying matches, scoring six goals. The 1970 tournament in Mexico was to be Pelé's last. Brazil's squad for the tournament featured major changes in relation to the 1966 squad. Players like Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Djalma Santos, and Gilmar had already retired, but the team, with Pelé, Rivelino, Jairzinho, Gérson, Tostão, and Clodoaldo, is widely considered one of the greatest football teams ever.

In the first match, against Czechoslovakia, Pelé gave Brazil a 2-1 lead after controlling Gerson's pass with his chest. Brazil went on to win the match, 4-1. On the first half of the match against England, he nearly scored with a header that was spectacularly saved by Gordon Banks. On the second half, he assisted Jairzinho for the only goal of the match. Against Romania, he opened the score on a direct free kick goal, a strong strike with the outside of his right foot. Later on the match he scored again to put the score 3-1. Brazil won by a final score of 3-2. In quarterfinals against Peru, Brazil won 4-2, with Pelé assisting Tostão on his team's third goal. In the semi-finals, Brazil faced Uruguay for the first time since the 1950 World Cup final round match. Jairzinho put Brazil ahead 2-1, and Pelé assisted Rivelino for the 3-1. During that match, Pelé made one of his most famous plays. Tostão gave Pelé a through ball, and Uruguay's goalkeeper Ladislao Mazurkiewicz took notice of it. The keeper ran off of his line to get the ball before Pelé, but Pelé got there first, and without touching the ball, he caused it to go past the keeper, to the latter's left, while Pelé went right. Pelé went around the goalkeeper and took a shot while turning towards the goal, but he turned in excess as he shot, and the ball drifted just wide of the far post.

Brazil played Italy in the final, with Pelé scoring the opener on a header over defender Tarcisio Burgnich. He then made assists on Jairzinho's and Carlos Alberto's goals, the latter one after an impressive collective play. Brazil won the match 4-1, keeping the Jules Rimet Trophy indefinitely. Burgnich, who marked Pelé during the match, was quoted saying "I told myself before the game, he's made of skin and bones just like everyone else — but I was wrong".

Pelé's last international match was on July 18, 1971 against Yugoslavia in Rio de Janeiro. With Pelé on the field, the Brazilian team's record was 67 wins, 14 draws, and 11 losses, and went on to win three World Cups. Brazil never lost a match with both Pelé and Garrincha on the field.

Pelé also played in the South American Championship. In the 1959 competition he was top scorer with 8 goals, as Brazil came second in the tournament.

* Santos (Official Tournaments) **Campeonato Paulista: 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1973 **Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1959, 1963 and 1964 **Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa (Taça de Prata): 1968 **Taça Brasil: 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965 **Copa Libertadores: 1962 and 1963 **Intercontinental Cup: 1962 and 1963 **South-American Recopa: 1968 * New York Cosmos **NASL Champions: 1977

* Brazil ** FIFA World Cup: 1958, 1962, 1970 ** Roca Cup: 1957, 1963 ** Copa O'Higgins: 1959 ** Copa Atlântica: 1960

*Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee: 1999

In December 2000, Pelé was named Footballer of the Century by FIFA. The award was intended to be based upon votes in a web poll, but after it became apparent that it favoured Diego Maradona, many observers complained that the Internet nature of the poll would have meant a skewed demographic of younger fans who would have seen Maradona play, but not Pelé. FIFA then appointed a "Family of Football" committee of soccer experts to decide the winner of the award. Maradona was instead awarded the title of FIFA Internet Player of the Century. Allegations that the Internet poll had been bombarded by Argentine fans still remain to this day.

*Laureus World Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement Award from South African President Nelson Mandela: 2000

A consensus of media and expert polls rank Pele as the greatest footballer of all-time.

In 2005 Pele won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.

Pelé's goalscoring record is often reported as being 1280 goals in 1363 games. This figure includes goals scored by Pelé in non-competitive club matches, for example, international tours Pelé completed with Santos and the New York Cosmos, and games Pelé played in for armed forces teams during his national service in Brazil.

The tables below record every goal Pelé scored in major club competitions for Santos and the New York Cosmos. During much of Pelé's playing career in Brazil there was no national league championship. From 1960 onwards the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) were required to provide meritocratic entrants for the then-new Copa Libertadores, a South American international club competition broadly equivalent to the European Cup. To enable them to do this, the CBF organised two national competitions: the Taça de Prata and Taça Brasil. A national league championship, the Campeonato Brasileiro, was first played in 1971, alongside traditional state and interstate competitions such as the Campeonato Paulista and the Torneio Rio-São Paulo.

The number of league goals scored by Pelé is listed as 589 in 605 games. This number is the sum of the goals scored by Pelé in domestic league-based competitions: the Campeonato Paulista (SPS), Torneio Rio-São Paulo (RSPS), Taça de Prata and Campeonato Brasileiro. The Taça Brasil was a national competition organised on a knockout basis.

*A dark grey cell in the table indicates that the relevant competition did not take place that year. ** indicates this number was inferred from a Santos fixture list from rsssf.com and this list of games Pelé played.

Pelé is in third place on the list of all-time top goalscorers in international matches; in 92 appearances for the Brazilian team, he scored 77 goals. He is in fourth place behind Ronaldo, Gerd Müller, and Just Fontaine on the list of goalscorers in World Cup matches, with 12 goals. He was part of three World Cup winning teams, although he did not play in the 1962 final due to injury and did not receive a medal. Pelé is one of only four footballers to have achieved the feat of scoring in two different World Cup final matches, sharing that honor with Paul Breitner, Vavá, and Zinedine Zidane. He is one of five players to have scored twice from direct free kick in World Cups (The others are Rivelino, Teófilo Cubillas, Bernard Genghini, and David Beckham). He is one of only two players to have scored in four World Cups (the other being Uwe Seeler, who did it in the same four tournaments as Pelé).

It is often claimed that Pelé is the most prolific scorer in football history. According to FIFA, Pelé ended his career with a total of 1281 goals in 1363 matches. However, many of these goals were scored in non-competitive club matches. For instance, if one counts non-competitive goals when compiling the total of goals scored by Gerd Müller, he would have a career total of 1455 goals in 1204 games. As non-competitive games are rarely counted in player's statistics it is unknown how many players could have passed Pelé's mark, but 1281 goals is certainly one of the highest totals achieved by a professional footballer. If one looks only at competitive goals, then Pelé is the second highest scorer of all time behind Josef Bican. Bican never attempted to draw attention to his record, and when questioned about this, he quipped "who'd have believed me if I said I'd scored five times as many goals as Pelé?"

Although the Brazilian domestic league system provided every single starter from the 1958, 1962, and 1970 Brazil World Cup Champions, perhaps leading one to the assumption that it was the world's strongest league during the years of Pelé's career, one also has to take into account the state nature of the league. At the time Santos mainly played against other teams from the São Paulo region, whereas the best players were spread around teams all across Brazil. For instance Garrincha, Jairzinho and Altair played in the Rio de Janeiro League, Tostão played in the Minas Gerais League, and of the players that actually competed in São Paulo, Carlos Alberto, Zito, Pepe and Gilmar actually played with Pele for Santos. As of 2006, teams from São Paulo state have won 14 of a possible 36 national league titles (see Titles by state).

The most notable area of Pelé's life since football is his ambassadorial work for various bodies. In 1992, Pelé was appointed a United Nations ambassador for ecology and the environment. He was awarded Brazil's Gold Medal for outstanding services to the sport in 1995, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso appointed him to the position of "Extraordinary Minister for Sport" and he was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. During this time he proposed legislation to reduce corruption in Brazilian football, which became known as the Pelé law. Pelé left his position in 2001 after he was accused of involvement in a bribery scandal. In 1997 he was given an honorary British knighthood.

Pelé scouted for Premiership Football Team Fulham FC in 2002. He was chosen to do the draw for the qualification groups 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, in which what team would be selected onto what group.

Pelé has published several autobiographies, starred in documentary and semi-documentary films and composed various musical pieces, including the entire soundtrack for the film Pelé in 1977. He appeared, alongside other footballers of the 1960s and 1970s, Michael Caine, and Sylvester Stallone, in the 1981 film Escape to Victory, about an attempted escape from a World War II Nazi POW Camp. Pelé was one of the first black persons to be featured on the cover of Life magazine, and was the first sports figure featured in a video game with the Atari 2600 game Pelé's Soccer.

He is now represented by Prime Licensing, a company created by Jose Alves de Araujo to launch a line of products to compete with the biggest names in fashion. In addition, Pelé signed a major autobiographical book deal in 2006, resulting in a giant-sized, 45cmx35cm, 2,500 unit limited-edition collectible "Pele", created by UK luxury publishers, Gloria, as the first-ever football 'big book'. In the same period, Pelé received a lifetime achievement award from the BBC and in June 2006, helped inaugurate the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, alongside supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Pele has also helped to promote viagra and raise the awareness of impotency; it is not known whether he is afflicted by the condition himself though.

*Os Estranhos (1969) (TV Series) *O Barão Otelo no Barato dos Bilhões (1971) *A Marcha (1973) *Os Trombadinhas (1978) *Escape to Victory (1981) *A Minor Miracle (1983) *Pedro Mico (1985) *Os Trapalhões e o Rei do Futebol (1986) *Hotshot (1987) *Solidão, Uma Linda História de Amor (1990) *Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001) *ESPN SportsCentury (2004)

* List of footballers (soccer) * The Beautiful Game

*http://www.soccerhall.org/famers/edson_nacmento.htm *BBC 2006 Vote World-Cup Greatest *Video History of Pelé (from LikeTelevision)