He never won this trophy. He won the previous version 3 times.
October 23, 1940, 80 years ago: Edson Arantes do Nascimento is born in Três Corações (Three Hearts), Minas Gerais, Brazil. The most famous native of his country, we know him as Pelé. If he is not the greatest soccer player who ever lived, he is certainly the most celebrated.
His father, João Ramos do Nascimento, was a striker known as Dondinho. He was much-heralded, but a knee injury curtailed his career. Like millions of Brazilians, he broke down in tears upon hearing his homeland's defeat, on home soil, to Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup Final. Edson, then 9 years old, told his father that, one day, he would win the World Cup for him. Dondinho would live to see Brazil win it 4 times, the 1st 3 with his son.
Edson, named for inventor Thomas Edison, whom Dondinho admired, grew up in Bauru, in the Brazilian State of São Paulo. Like his father, and most other Brazilian "futebol" players, he became known by a single name. Often it's the player's first name, but it would not be "Edson" by which he would be known. Nor would it be "Dico," which his family had called him.
As a boy, his favorite player was a goalkeeper for Rio de Janeiro team Vasco da Gama, known as Bilé. But in his accent, "Bee-LAY" became "Peh-LAY." The more he was called "Pelé," the more he complained, but the more it stuck. While the Hebrew word for "miracle" is pronounced "Peh-LAY," the word "Pelé" has no known meaning in Brazil's main language, Portuguese.
As a teenager, Pelé was among the earliest group of Brazilians to play indoor soccer, which he said forced him to think and act more quickly, making him better at the traditional outdoor version. In 1956, only 15 years old, he was signed to Santos Futebol Clube of Santos, an industrial and port city near the city of São Paulo.
He remained with Santos for 18 years, as the club refused all offers from the giants of South American, and eventually European, football. He helped them win the Campeonato Paulista, the State Championship, 10 times. He helped them win the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the National Championship, 6 times, including 5 in a row from 1961 to 1965.
He helped them win back-to-back titles in the Copa Libertadores, the South American continental club championship. Each time, they beat the winners of the European Cup to win the Intercontinental Cup (now called the FIFA Club World Cup): Benfica of Lisbon, Portugal, featuring Eusébio, in 1962; and AC Milan of Italy, featuring Gianni Rivera, in 1963. (Like Pelé, Eusébio, a native of the African nation of Mozambique, then a colony of Portugal, is the greatest player his continent has ever produced. Also like Pelé, he was nicknamed "The Black Pearl.")
After the 1962 Intercontinental Cup, in which Pelé scored 3 goals, Benfica goalkeeper Costa Pereira said, "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."
Not yet 18 years old, the Brazilian national team, O Seleção (The Selection), called him up for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. The Seleção was a mix of black and white players, and the very white Scandinavian people of Sweden were very intrigued by them. Pelé, away from his homeland for the 1st time, and his teammates essentially had their choice of whatever women were willing to throw themselves at them. Did I mention that he was not yet 18?
In the Group Stage, Brazil beat Austria 3-0 at Uddevalla, drew 0-0 with England at Gothenberg, and beat the Soviet Union 2-0 at Gothenburg. In the 66th minute of the Quarterfinal against Wales, also in Gothenburg, Pelé scored his 1st World Cup goal, and Brazil won, 1-0. (That's as far as Wales got: Northern Ireland also made it to the Knockout stage, but England didn't.) In the Semifinal at Solna, Pelé exploded onto the world stage with a hat trick, as Brazil beat a strong France team led by Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, 5-2.
The Final was held on June 29, 1958, at the Råsunda Fotbollsstadion in Solna, outside Stockholm. Brazil played the host nation -- which must have given some of their fans flashbacks to 1950, knowing that the home team could be beaten in the Final. Sweden had Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm, although Gunnar Nordahl, the other member of "Gre-No-Li," the Swedish trio who starred for AC Milan in the 1950s, never played in a World Cup.
But Brazil, managed by Vicente Feola, had Gilmar in goal; a defense of Djalma Santos, Orlando, Hideraldo Bellini and Nílton Santos (no relation to Djalma); halfbacks Zito and Didi, whom Pelé credited as his mentor; and a forward line of Garrincha (possibly the best player in the world at the time), Vavá, Pelé and Mário Zagallo.
Although Liedholm scored in the 4th minute, it was no contest: Vavá tallied in the 9th and the 32nd, Pelé in the 55th, and Zagallo in the 68th. Agne Simonsson got a consolation goal in the 80th, but Pelé put an exclamation point on the board in the 90th. Brazil won, 5-2.
It had been 8 years, minus 17 days, since the 1950 Final defeat known as Maracanaço, "The Agony of Maracanã." Pelé had kept his promise to his father, and the nation that, perhaps even more than England, loves soccer more than any other, was World Champions for the 1st time.
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This win made Pelé world-famous and a hot commodity. Internazionale of Milan signed him to a contract, but, following a revolt by Santos' fans, the team's chairman tore up the contract. Another Italian team, Juventus of Turin, tried to sign him. So did Real Madrid of Spain. So did Manchester United of England, eager to rebuild their squad following the Munich Air Disaster of 1958.
Pelé was just getting warmed up. In an era where there was no merchandising and no TV money, playing games and taking in their share of the gate receipts as the only way for soccer teams to make money, so Santos were constantly touring and playing big-name teams. In 1959, they toured Europe, beating Inter 7-1 at the San Siro in Milan, and beating Barcelona 5-1 at the Camp Nou. In calendar year 1959 alone, he scored 126 goals.
Charlie George, who starred for North London team Arsenal in the early 1970s, said, "I was a scorer of great goals, not a great goalscorer." Pelé became renowned as both. Most of his goals were not preserved on film, including the one he said was his favorite, in a 1959 Campeonato Paulista match against Atlético Juventus of São Paulo. He asked a computer expert to simulate it, based on his description. This was the result, and if it happened just like that, I can see why he chose it.
In 1961, against Rio team Fluminense at the Maracanã, he took the ball on the edge of his own penalty area, and dribbled it all the way down the pitch past several defenders, before scoring. A plaque outside the stadium calls it "the most beautiful goal in the history of the Maracanã." It is known as the Gol de Placa: The goal worthy of a plaque. That same year, President Jânio Quadros of Brazil had him declared an "official national treasure," to prevent his being transferred out of the country. He was not yet 21 years old.
The 1962 World Cup was played in Chile. Brazil attempted to match Italy in 1934 and '38 as back-to-back winners. They played their Group Stage games in Viña del Mar. Zagallo and Pelé scored to give them a 2-0 win over Mexico. They only got a 0-0 draw against Czechoslovakia, led by Josef Masopust. Pelé was injured in the game, and would not play in the tournament again. But 2 goals by his replacement up top, Amarildo, got them a 2-0 win over Spain.
Still in Viña del Mar, 2 goals by Garrincha and 1 by Vavá gave them a 3-1 win over England. In the Semifinal, as they had in the 1958 Final, they had to play the host nation in their national stadium, in the capital of Santiago. Garrincha and Vavá each scored twice, and Brazil won 4-2. The Final was a rematch with Czechoslovakia. Masopust scored in the 15th, but Amarildo scored in the 17th, Zito in the 69th, and Vavá in the 78th. Brazil won 3-1, and were World Champions again.
They hoped to make it 3 straight in England in 1966. They played their Group Stage games at Goodison Park, the home of Everton, the blue club of Liverpool. It didn't go so well. Pelé and Garrincha scored to give Brazil a 2-0 win over Bulgaria. But the Bulgarians decided to hack him to pieces. Hungary decided on the same tactic, and beat Brazil 3-1. Portugal also fouled Pelé relentlessly, with no sanction from the referees. With Eusébio scoring twice, Portugal beat their former colony 3-1.
Brazil were out. This remains the only time since the 1st World Cup of 1930 that they did not qualify for the Knockout Stage. To be fair, they were in something of a transition: Their 1958 and 1962 championship players were aging, and their 1970 players were still on their way in.
With both Santos and the Brazil team, Pelé continued to play all around the world. This included one of Brazil's warmup matches for the 1966 World Cup, a 2-0 loss to Arsenal at Highbury on November 16, 1965; and 4 games at the old Yankee Stadium for Santos: A 4-1 win over Internazionale Milano on June 5, 1966, during their "Grande Inter" era; a 4-2 win over Italian team Napoli on June 21, 1968; a 5-3 loss to the North American Soccer League's New York Generals on July 12, 1968; and a 3-3 draw with
Eusébio's Benfica on September 1, 1968.
The Nigerian Civil War of 1967-70 was very nasty. But the factions agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire, as Pelé led Santos into the capital of Lagos to play the national team on January 26, 1969. He scored both Santos goals in a 2-2 draw.
On November 19, 1969, still only 29 years old, he led Santos into the Maracanã to play Vasco da Gama. In all competitions to that point, he had been credited with 999 goals. Since this game featured one of the big clubs in the biggest city, against the man known as O Rei (The King), it was nationally televised.
He thought he had his 1,000th goal when he was brought down in the penalty area. "It had to be a penalty," he said later. "It had to come when the whole world could stop, and not miss it." He got it, and a crowd of 125,000 in the gigantic stadium erupted in cheers, enough of them rushing the pitch that the game could not continue. (With renovations, including being made all-seater, it now has a capacity of 78,838.)
Still, he and Brazil had a lot to prove in the 1970 World Cup, to be played in Mexico. This would be the 1st World Cup televised around the world in color, and the Seleção's yellow shirts really stood out. Their Group Stage games were played at Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara, home of Chivas. The opener was a rematch of the 1962 Final against the Czechs, and Pelé had a goal in the 4-1 demolition.
Next came England. A corner came Pelé's way, and as he headed the ball toward the net, he yelled, "Goal!" But it wasn't: England goalkeeper Gordon Banks knocked it away, for what became known as the Save of the Century. Still, Brazil would not be denied, and Jairzinho gave Brazil a 1-0 win.
The postgame photo of Pelé and England Captain Bobby Moore embracing, exchanging shirts -- the already-legendary yellow Number 10 and the white Number 6 -- became iconic: Each country's best player ever, one white, one black, coming together in a moment of sportsmanship.
The Group Stage concluded with Pelé scoring 2 goals in a 3-2 win over Romania. The Quarterfinal was also played in Guadalajara, and while Pelé didn't score, it was still a demonstration of what he called O Jogo Bonito: "The Beautiful Game": A 4-2 defeat of Peru. The Semifinal, too, was in Guadalajara, against another South American side. Pelé didn't score in that one, either, but it didn't matter, as his teammates came through, beating Uruguay 3-1.
The Final was held at the Estadio Azteca on June 21. The opponents were Italy, also with something to prove, after an ignominious exit in 1966. Brazil didn't give them a chance. In the 18th minute, Pelé found a Rivelino cross and headed it in. While the Azzurri (Blues) did tie it up, the 2nd half was all Brazil: Gérson, Jairzinho and Captain Carlos Alberto all tallied, the last 2 on assists by Pelé, and perhaps the greatest soccer team ever assembled completed their masterpiece, 4-1.
Celebrating his 1970 Final goal with Jairzinho (Number 7).
They became the 1st team to win the Jules Rimet Trophy 3 times, and got to keep it. A new trophy was commissioned for the 1974 World Cup, as shown in the photo at the top of the page. Also noteworthy: Mário Zagallo became the 1st man to win the World Cup as both a player and as a manager. He has since been joined by Franz Beckenbauer of Germany and Didier Deschamps of France.
Pelé played his last international match on July 18, 1971, in a friendly with Yugoslavia at the Maracanã, before 138,575 fans. He didn't score, and it ended in a 2-2 draw. With him, Brazil won 67 games, drew 14, and lost 11 -- with both him and his predecessor as their greatest player, Garrincha, in the lineup, they lost exactly none. After closing the 1973-74 season with Santos, he retired. The only man with 1,000 goals, and the only man with 3 World Cups, he seemed to have nothing left to prove.
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The New York Cosmos did have something to prove. In 1971, they replaced the bankrupt New York Generals in the North American Soccer League. They wore green, yellow and white to capitalize on Brazil having those colors. It didn't work: They averaged just 4,517 fans per home game in the old Yankee Stadium. For the 1972 season, they moved to James M. Shuart Stadium, a 15,000-seat stadium on the campus of Hofstra University, across the Jericho Turnpike from the Nassau Coliseum in Hempstead, Long Island. They won the NASL Championship.
They played there again in 1973, before moving to Downing Stadium, a crumbling 22,500-seat horseshoe on Randalls Island in the middle of the East River for 1974. They were drawing fewer fans than ever. If a 2nd New York team failed within 2 years, the League was doomed.
So the team's owners, Warner Communications chairman Steve Ross and Atlantic Records boss Ahmet Ertegun, went fishing, and caught a bigger fish than Roy Scheider did in the year's biggest blockbuster, Jaws. Ertegun, a native of Turkey who knew the European game well, told Pelé, "In Madrid, you can win a cup. In New York, you can win a country." Intrigued, Pelé signed a contract that made him the highest-paid athlete in the world -- to be paid with money that the Cosmos didn't yet have.
On June 15, 1975, 21,278 paid there way into Downing Stadium for Pelé's debut, and another 50,000 were turned away, because their was no room for them. ABC broadcast the game live on Wide World of Sports. Knowing this, the Cosmos painted the patchy spots on the field green. If anything, that made it look worse. Pelé scored on his debut, but the game with the Dallas Tornado ended in a 2-2 draw. The Tornado included Kyle Rote Jr., probably the best American-born player at the time, and the son of a New York Giants legend.
Still, the Cosmos averaged only 10,450 fans per game. Pelé complained about the bad field, saying that, even in Brazil, he hadn't played home games on a worse one. The Cosmos made a deal to play in the new Giants Stadium once it was ready, but played their 1976 home games at a newly-renovated Yankee Stadium. So Pelé joined Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano as heroes of the big ballyard in The Bronx. Average attendance rose to 18,227.
The 1977 season was to be their 1st at the Meadowlands, and Pelé announced it would be his last. The Cosmos spared no expense: They brought in his Brazil teammate Carlos Alberto, German superstar Franz Beckenbauer, and Italian striker Giorgio Chinaglia. Attendance rose to an average of 34,142, peaking at 77,691 for a Playoff game with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. This would remain a record for a soccer game in America until the 1994 World Cup.
The City, and the suburbs, really took to the Cosmos. They got the best tables in restaurants, and danced the night away at Studio 54, the discothèque of all discothèques. "We were as big as the Yankees," the Bronx-born, Long Island-raised goalkeeper Shep Messing said, "and bigger than the Giants." Pelé did TV commercials for Pepsi, even appearing in a print ad for the soda in the Yankees' Yearbook.
On August 28, 1977, at Civic Stadium (now Providence Park) in Portland, Oregon, the Cosmos beat the original version of the Seattle Sounders to win Soccer Bowl '77. In 21 seasons, Pelé had led his team to 7 national league championships.
On October 1, 1977, his testimonial match was held at a sold-out Giants Stadium. The Cosmos' opponent was Santos. He was to play the 1st half for the Cosmos, and the 2nd half for Santos. It was televised around the world, including on ABC's Wide World of Sports. His wife and father were in attendance. So was President Jimmy Carter, on his 53rd birthday. So was Bobby Moore. So was Muhammad Ali, the Heavyweight Champion of the World, who had survived a brutal fight with Earnie Shavers at Madison Square Garden across the Hudson River 2 days before.
When Pelé got the entire stadium to "Say it with me, three times: Love! Love! Love!" prior to the match, Ali, who liked to call himself "The Greatest" and generally refused to take a back seat to anyone, said, "Now I understand: He is greater than me."
Pelé, too, could "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
Pelé scored on a 30-yard free kick in the 1st half, but was unable to help Santos come back in the 2nd half. The Cosmos won 2-1. Late in the game, it started to rain, and a Brazilian newspaper printed the headline, "Even the sky was crying."
Without him, the Cosmos actually had a higher average attendance in 1978, 47,856, and made it back-to-back titles. They won another title in 1980, and another in 1982. But, despite their bringing in other European and South American stars, the novelty began to wear off. From 1983 to 1984, attendance dropped from 27,242 to just 12,817.
The team folded. Without a New York team, the League folded, and that set American soccer back a generation. When Major League Soccer was founded in 1996, the Meadowlands team was named the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, because it couldn't get the legal rights to the Cosmos name. They became the New York Red Bulls in 2006, and moved to a new stadium in Harrison, New Jersey in 2010. That same year, a new New York Cosmos was founded, but in a minor league, and they "went back to their roots" by playing at Hofstra. They have since moved about a mile away to the Mitchel Athletid Complex. New York City FC began play at the new Yankee Stadium in 2015.
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In 1981, Pelé appeared in the film Escape to Victory, set in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp in World War II. He played Corporal Luis Fernandez, from the Caribbean nation of Trinidad & Tobago, then still a British colony, and thus a soldier in the British Army. (Despite direction by John Huson, the movie was ridiculous, but maintained some historical accuracy: It takes place in 1941, and Brazil did not enter the war until 1943, so he couldn't play a Brazilian.)
Among the other footballers in the film: American Werner Roth, a Cosmos teammate; England's Bobby Moore, Mike Summerbee and John Wark; Belgium's Paul Van Himst; Poland's Kazimierz Deyna, who had played in the NASL, as had Moore; and Argentina's Osvaldo Ardiles.
Michael Caine also starred, and Sylvester Stallone, cast to sell the film to the American market, played Captain Robert Hatch, an American serving in the Canadian Army (Pearl Harbor had not yet been attacked), who plays in goal. (Like I said: The movie was ridiculous.) Swedish actor Max von Sydow played the German camp commander.
In 1994, Pelé was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations, and did a commercial for MasterCard to promote the 1994 World Cup, which America hosted and Brazil won, their 4th title. (They won a 5th in 2002, which remains more than any other country: Germany and Italy have each won 4; Uruguay, Argentina and France, 2; England and Spain, 1.)
From 1995 to 1998, he served in the cabinet of the President of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, as Extraordinary Minister for Sport. However, as during his playing days, which included a military dictatorship, his relationship with his homeland's government has frequently been complicated. It says something that both his country's hard right and its hard left believe he is against them. He did, however, help them gain the hosting of the 2014 World Cup (which, like their previous attempt at hosting in 1950, ended in competitive disaster for the team) and the 2016 Olympics.
Pelé is currently married for the 3rd time. He is known to have 2 sons and 5 daughters. He has outlived his 1st child, daughter Sandra Machado (1964-2006). His son Edson Cholbi Nascimento was born shortly after the 1970 World Cup triumph. Under the name Edinho, he, too, played for Santos -- with some irony, as a goalkeeper. He later managed the team, with his brother Joshua playing. In 2014, Edinho was arrested for laundering money from drug trafficking. He maintains his innocence, but was convicted, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Last year, he was allowed to serve the remainder of his term under house arrest.
In 2012, Pelé had a hip operation, but his rehabilitation from it has proven difficult. Since 2017, he has not appeared in public without a wheelchair. In 2019, having already had a kidney removed, he was hospitalized to remove stones from his remaining kidney. He turns 80 today, but he may not have many more birthdays left.
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Pelé finished his career claiming 1,283 goals in all competitions. FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, refusing to count friendlies, credits him with 757. For comparison's sake, see his 2 current challengers for the title of "Greatest Of All Time": Cristiano Ronaldo is credited with 760, Lionel Messi with 734. Diego Maradona, the other major contender for the title, had "only" 446 for Argentina and his clubs combined.
But those 3, between them, are 1-for-12 in World Cups, the 1 being Maradona's in 1986, and, more blatantly than Crissy or Messi ever did, he cheated. Pelé was 3-for-4. Maradona? Messi? Throw in
Alfredo di Stéfano, and it's possible that neither one of them is even the best Argentine player ever. Cristiano? He's not even the best Ronaldo to have played for Real Madrid in the 21st Century.
These kids today, they don't know: Pelé is the greatest. It's why the Brazilians call him O Rei: The King. You don't believe them? You don't believe me? Okay, listen to those who know:
* Bobby Moore, England and West Ham United: "Pelé was the most complete player I've ever seen, he had everything. Two good feet. Magic in the air. Quick. Powerful. Could beat people with skill. Could outrun people. Only five feet and eight inches tall, yet he seemed a giant of an athlete on the pitch. Perfect balance and impossible vision. He was the greatest because he could do anything and everything on a football pitch."
* Bobby Charlton, England and Manchester United: "I sometimes feel as though football was invented for this magical player."
* Franz Beckenbauer, Germany and Bayern Munich (and Pelé's New York Cosmos teammate): "Pelé is the greatest player of all time. He reigned supreme for 20 years. There's no one to compare with him."
* Johan Cruijff, Netherlands and Ajax Amsterdam: "Pelé was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic."
* Alfredo di Stéfano, Argentina and Real Madrid: "The best player ever? Pelé. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are both great players with specific qualities, but Pelé was better."
* Ferenc Puskás, Hungary and Real Madrid (where he was a teammate of di Stéfano): "The greatest player in history was di Stéfano. I refuse to classify Pelé as a player. He was above that."
* Just Fontaine, France (beaten by Brazil in the 1958 World Cup Semifinal) and Stade de Reims:
"When I saw Pelé play, it made me feel I should hang up my boots."
* Zico, Brazil and Rio de Janeiro team Flamengo, perhaps the 1st man to be known as "The White
Pelé": "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."
* Michel Platini, France and Juventus: "To play like Pelé is to play like God."
* Romário, Brazil, Vasco da Gama and Dutch team PSV Eindhoven: "It's only inevitable I look up to Pelé. He's like a god to us."
* Cafu, Brazil, São Paulo FC, AS Roma and AC Milan: "He is everything to us."
* José Mourinho, trophy-winning manager at FC Porto in Portugal, West London team Chelsea and Manchester United in England, Internazionale in Italy and Real Madrid in Spain, now managing North London team Tottenham Hotspur, known for calling himself "The Special One": "I think he is football. You have the real special one: Mr. Pelé."
* Do you still believe that Cristiano Ronaldo, of Sporting Clube de Portugal, Manchester United, Real Madrid and now Juventus has been better? Then listen to what CR7 himself says: "Pelé is the greatest player in football history, and there will only be one Pelé." (I can't find a record of Messi's assessment of Pelé.)
* Nelson Mandela, founding President of the new Republic of South Africa: "To watch him play was to watch the delight of a child combined with the extraordinary grace of a man in full."
* Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State, a native of Germany and a soccer fanatic:
"Performance at a high level in any sport is to exceed the ordinary human scale. But Pelé's performance transcended that of the ordinary star by as much as the star exceeds ordinary performance."
* Andy Warhol, artist and professional celebrity: "Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory: instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries."
* And, let me post this again: Muhammad Ali: "He is greater than me."
His greatest accomplishment is that he got our nation, notorious for its insularity, and not caring about what goes on in the rest of the world, to care about soccer for the first time. It only lasted for a few years, but it provided the building blocks for American soccer fandom today. American soccer fans may not owe him as much as Brazilian fans do, but we're a strong 2nd in that regard.
Obrigato, Pelé.
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