Sport personalities.....PELE

Hi Dassyb blog reader, hope you had a great week and how's your weekend going? This weekend we will be looking at another football legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento popularly known as Pele. He is widely regarded to be the greatest player of all time. He was born on October 23, 1940, in Três Corações, Brazil, soccer legend Pelé became a superstar with his performance in the 1958 World Cup. Pelé played professionally in Brazil for two decades, winning three World Cups along the way, before joining the New York Cosmos late in his career. Named FIFA co-Player of the Century in 1999 and was elected also Athlete of the Century by the IOC, and Time named him in their list of 100 most influential people of the 20th century.According to the IFFHS, Pelé is the most successful league goal scorer in the world, with 541 league goals^. In total Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 games, including unofficial friendlies and tour games, for which he was listed in the Guinness World Records for most career goals scored in football. During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the best-paid athlete in the world. In his native Brazil, he is hailed as a national hero for his accomplishments in football and for his vocal support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor He is a global ambassador for soccer and other humanitarian causes.

Childhood

Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on October 23, 1940 in Três Corações, Brazil, the first child of João Ramos and Dona Celeste. Named after Thomas Edison and nicknamed "Dico," Pelé moved with his family to the city of Bauru as a young boy.
João Ramos, better known as "Dondinho," struggled to earn a living as a soccer player, and Pelé grew up in poverty. Still, he developed a rudimentary talent for soccer by kicking a rolled-up sock stuffed with rags around the streets of Bauru. The origin of the "Pelé" nickname is unclear, though he recalled despising it when his friends first referred to him that way.
As an adolescent, Pelé joined a youth squad coached by Waldemar de Brito, a former member of the Brazilian national soccer team. De Brito eventually convinced Pelé's family to let the budding phenom leave home and try out for the Santos professional soccer club when he was 15.

Soccer's National Treasure

Pelé signed with Santos and immediately started practicing with the team's regulars. He scored the first professional goal of his career before he turned 16, led the league in goals in his first full season and was recruited to play for the Brazilian national team.
The world was officially introduced to Pelé in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Displaying remarkable speed, athleticism and field vision, the 17-year-old erupted to score three goals in a 5-2 semifinal win over France, then netted two more in the finals, a 5-2 win over the host country.
The young superstar received hefty offers to play for European clubs, and Brazilian President Jânio Quadros eventually had Pelé declared a national treasure, making it legally difficult for him to play in another country. Regardless, Santos club ownership ensured its star attraction was well paid by scheduling lucrative exhibition matches with teams around the world.

More World Cup Titles

Pelé aggravated a groin injury two games into the 1962 World Cup in Chile, sitting out the final rounds while Brazil went on to claim its second straight title. Four years later, in England, a series of brutal attacks by opposing defenders again forced him to the sidelines with leg injuries, and Brazil was bounced from the World Cup after one round.
Despite the disappointment on the world stage, the legend of Pelé continued to grow. In the late 1960s, the two factions in the Nigerian Civil War reportedly agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch Pelé play in an exhibition game in Lagos.
The 1970 World Cup in Mexico marked a triumphant return to glory for Pelé and Brazil. Headlining a formidable squad, Pelé scored four goals in the tournament, including one in the final to give Brazil a 4-1 victory over Italy.
Pelé announced his retirement from soccer in 1974, but he was lured back to the field the following year to play for the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League, and temporarily helped make the NASL a big attraction. He played his final game in an exhibition between New York and Santos in October 1977, competing for both sides, and retired with a total of 1,281 goals in 1,363 games.

The Legend Lives On

Retirement did little to diminish the public profile of Pelé, who remained a popular pitchman and active in many professional arenas.
In 1978, Pelé was awarded the International Peace Award for his work with UNICEF. He has also served as Brazil's Extraordinary Minister for Sport and a United Nations ambassador for ecology and the environment.
Pelé was named FIFA's "Co-Player of the Century" in 1999, along with Argentine Diego Maradona. To many, his accomplishments on the soccer field will never be equaled, and virtually all great athletes in the sport are measured against the Brazilian who once made the world stop to watch his transcendent play.

 Honours

Country

Brazil

• FIFA World Cup (3): 1958, 1962, 1970
• Roca Cup (2): 1957, 1963
• Cruz Cup (3): 1958, 1962, 1968
• Bernardo O'Higgins Cup (1): 1959
• Atlantic Cup (1): 1960
• Oswaldo Cruz Cup (3): 1958, 1962, 1968

Club

Santos

• Copa Libertadores (2): 1962, 1963
• Intercontinental Cup (2): 1962, 1963
• Intercontinental Supercup (1): 1968
• Supercopa de Campeones Intercontinentales (1): 1968
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (6): 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968
• Torneio Rio-São Paulo (4): 1959, 1963, 1964, 1966
• Campeonato Paulista (10): 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973

New York Cosmos

• North American Soccer League, Soccer Bowl (1): 1977
• North American Soccer League, Atlantic Conference Championship (1): 1977

Individual

• Santos
  • Copa Libertadores Top Scorer (1): 1965
  • Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Top Scorer (3): 1961, 1963, 1964
  • Campeonato Paulista Top Scorer (11): 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1973
  • Torneio Rio-São Paulo Top Scorer (1): 1963.
• Brazil
  • FIFA World Cup Best Young Player (1): 1958
  • FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (Best Player) (1): 1970
  • FIFA World Cup Silver Ball (1): 1958
  • FIFA World Cup Silver Boot (1): 1958
  • FIFA World Cup All-Star Team (2): 1958, 1970
  • FIFA World Cup All-Time Team: 1994
  • FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2002
  • Copa America Best Player (1): 1959
  • Copa América Top Scorer (1): 1959
• FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur: 2013
• FIFA Player of the Century: 2000
• FIFA Order of Merit: 1984
• FIFA Centennial Award: 2004
• Bola de Prata: 1970
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality: 1970
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award: 2005
• Greatest football player to have ever played the game, by Golden Foot: 2012
• Athlete of the Century, by Reuters News Agency: 1999
• Athlete of the Century, elected by International Olympic Committee: 1999
• Athlete of the Century, elected by world wide journalists, poll by French daily L'Equipe: 1981
• South American Footballer of the Year: 1973
• South America Football Player of the Century, by IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics: 1999
• Football Player of the Century, by IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics: 1999
• Football Player of the Century, elected by France Football's Ballon d'Or Winners : 1999 UNICEF Football Player of the Century: 1999
• Inducted into the American National Soccer Hall of Fame: 1993
• Laureus World Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement Award from South African President Nelson Mandela: 2000
• World Team of the 20th Century: 1998
• World Soccer The Greatest Players of the 20th century: 1999
• World Soccer Greatest XI of all time: 2013
• L'Équipe's top 50 South-American footballers in history: #1
• Honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh celebrating Pelé’s "significant contribution to humanitarian and environmental causes, as well as his sporting achievements": 2012
• Prize from the French Academy of Sports, Award given to a player of a team sport for the very first time: 1971
• Red Medal of Paris, Given by the City Hall of the French Capital: 1971
• TIME One of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th century: 1999
• DPR Korea issued a postage stamp depicting Pelé: 1989
• FIFA World Cup's top 100 footballers of all time, by The Guardian: #1
• FIFA 100 Greatest Living Footballers: 2004

In December 2000, Pelé and Maradona shared the prize of FIFA Player of the Century by FIFA.The award was originally 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 FIFA members to decide the winner of the award together with the votes of the readers of the FIFA Magazine. The committee chose Pelé. Since Maradona was winning the Internet poll, however, it was decided he and Pelé should share the award.

Orders

• Knight of the Order of Rio Branco: 1967
• Commander of the Order of Rio Branco: 1969
• Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary: 1994
• Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire: 1997

Personal records

• Brazil national football team All-Time Leading Scorer, 77 goals
• Intercontinental Cup: All-Time Leading Scorer: 7 goals
• World record number of hat-trick: 92
• International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS): World´s most successful Top Division Goal Scorer: 541 goals
• Guinness World Records: Most career goals (football): 1283 goals in 1363 games
• Guinness World Records: Most FIFA World Cup Winners’ Medals
• Youngest scorer in the FIFA World Cup: 17 years and 239 days (Brazil v Wales 1958)
• Youngest hat-trick in the FIFA World Cup: 17 years and 244 days (Brazil v France 1958)
• Youngest player to play in a FIFA World Cup final match: 17 years and 249 days (Brazil v Sweden 1958)
• Youngest scorer in the FIFA World Cup final match: 17 years and 249 days (Brazil v Sweden 1958)Youngest winner of a FIFA World Cup: 17 years in 1958 FIFA World Cup

Hope you have learnt more about this wonderful football legend. Thanks for reading and please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments box.