He first saw his father cry after Brazil lost to Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup final. Edson Arantes do Nascimento. Does the name sound familiar? Pele's full name is the king of football. In his memoirs, "Black Manik" once said, "My father was crying that day along with many other Brazilians." Baba used to say that men should not cry. They don't cry. remains strong. But that day my father also cried because of Brazil's defeat.
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I told my father, don't cry. I will win the world cup for you. Eight years later I am in Sweden. I'm wearing a Brazilian jersey. Brazil became the service champion. My first World Cup win. I was 17 then. It was a gift from God to me. I don't know why I promised my father that day, I will bring you the World Cup.' After fulfilling his promise to his father, Pele won the World Cup two more times in 1962 and 1970. No other footballer has won the World Cup three times.
Was Pele just a footballer? The poor people of the world are only entertained by footwork. Brazil's 'Black Manik' has spread the word of eye-catching dribbling, incredible dodges and indescribably beautiful goals.
In the late 1960s, Nigeria was going through a civil war. In 1969, two warring factions in the African country declared a two-day truce just to watch Pele play. So that people from both sides can enjoy his football skills.
He turned down offers to play in Europe numerous times during his playing career after starting his dream journey in football for Santos club at home. The soccer king rejected Europe's tempting offers out of loyalty to Brazil. Wanted to retire after playing his last match for Santos in 1974. But then Pele was burdened with debt. So at the age of 35, he agreed to play for the New York Cosmos for three years for seven million dollars. Those were the last three seasons of his professional career.
The Brazilian legend used to call football 'the most beautiful game'. Even in the fall, football flourished and flourished in the United States, albeit at a slower pace, thanks to his residual footballing style and attractive personality.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born on October 23, 1940 in Doña Celeste, on the outskirts of the southeastern state of Tres Corações, Brazil. His father was also a local footballer. Pele's involvement in football was in childhood. He used to make a football by stuffing newspaper pages inside the socks. That was his toy. His name quickly spread among the neighborhood kids as a good player. Pele was named after Bill, the goalkeeper of the Vasco da Gama club in Brazil. He did not like the name. But in the end it was that name that brought him recognition all over the world.
He scored 32 goals in his first full season at Santos. After that, at the age of just 17 years, the door of the Brazil team for the 1958 World Cup opened in front of him. He missed the first two matches in Sweden due to a knee injury. After scoring Brazil's winning goal in the quarter-finals, Pele scored a hat-trick in the semi-finals. In the final, Brazil defeated the host Sweden 5-2. Peler scored two goals.
After winning his first World Cup, Pele's name became on the lips of football fans across the planet. Brazil won the next World Cup title in 1962. After Brazil's thrashing in England's 1966 World Cup, Pele announced that he had seen the end of his world career. He did not want to play in the 1970 World Cup. But Pele finally played in the 1970 Mexico World Cup under the pressure of the countrymen and the pressure of the tyrannical head of state of Brazil, the Medici. He was 29 then. Brazil returned home after winning the World Cup title for the third time after defeating Italy 4-1 in the final. Pele scored the first goal of the match.
For several decades it was known by the nickname "O rei". Rarely is a nickname so consubstantial with the character as in this case.