Pele redirects here. For other use of the word Pele, see Pele (disambiguation). winner in Sweden at 17 (uncapped before the world cup), scoring two goals in the final as Brazil beat Sweden 5–2 in Stockholm.Pele Remains Larger Than Life, Los Angeles Times, June 5, 2006 He played in three more Brazil World Cup teams in 1962, 1966 and 1970, two of which Brazil won (1962 and 1970). But his contributions were limited in the 1962 and 1966 campaigns due to injury.
The 1970 tournament in Mexico was to be Pelé's last. The 1970 team, featuring famous players such as Rivelino, Jairzinho, Gérson, and Tostão, is often considered to be the greatest national team ever. Brazil defeated Italy 4–1 in the final, with Pelé scoring one and setting up Carlos Alberto for another. During his international career, Brazil never lost while Pelé and Garrincha were both playing.
Abilty
He was a prolific and clinical finisher and exceptional at dribbling and passing. Famed for his pace, strong shot and an exceptional heading ability for a man of average Brazilian height. Pelé's technique and deft touch combined with his dribbling skills and scoring ability have been universally praised. His most spectacular signature move was probably the "bicycle kick".
However the most notable area of his 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, and in 1995, Brazilian PresidentFernando Henrique Cardoso appointed Pelé to the position of "Extraordinary Minister for Sport". (He left in 2001 after he was accused of involvement in a bribery scandal.Pele slips from Brazil pedestal, The Observer, November 25, 2001.)
In 2005, Pelé drew international media attention due to the imprisonment of his son Edson Cholbi Nascimento, an ex-goalkeeper of Santos Futebol Clube, who was arrested in an operation to dismantle a drug gang in southeastern Brazil. The younger Nascimento, then 35, was arrested along with about 50 other people after an eight-month investigation into a cocaine trafficking operation in the port city of Santos. Acting and film career 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 eo Rei do Futebol (1986) Hotshot (1987) Solidão, Uma Linda História de Amor (1990) Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001) ESPN SportsCentury (2004)
Pelé's goalscoring record is often reported as being 1281 goals in 1363 gamesVarious sources accept that Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 games. See, for example, the FIFA website: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/cp/bra/pele.html. This figure includes goals scored by Pelé in non-competitive club matches: for example, international tours Pelé completed with Santos and New York Cosmos, and games Pelé played in for armed forces teams during his national service in Brazil.For a full list of Pelé's goals which details the teams he played for, see http://rivelino.caltech.edu/~pelesl/pele/english/pele_statistics.html. The international tours Pelé took part in for Santos and Cosmos are detailed at http://www.rsssf.com: http://paginas.terra.com.br/esporte/rsssfbrasil/historical.htm#friendli, and the American Soccer History Archives: http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/index.html (click on a year and then scroll down to the bottom of the page to see friendly tournaments), respectively.
The table below attempts to record every goal Pelé scored in competitive club competition for Santos and New York Cosmos. At this moment it is known of various games that are not included (for instance Pelé's 7 goals in the Intercontinental Cup), but all major annual competitions are included. With the introduction of the Copa Libertadores, a South American international club competition broadly equivalent to the European Cup, in 1960, the Brazilian Football Confederation introduced various national competitions to provide meritocratic entrants for the competition. These national competitions (the Taça de Prata and Taça Brasil), which eventually resulted in the establishment of the Campeonato Brasileiro in 1971, were played alongside traditional state and interstate competitions such as the Campeonato Paulista and the Torneio Rio-São Paulo. A dark grey cell in the table means that the relevant competition did not take place in the relevant year.
The number of league goals scored by Pelé is listed in the infobox at the top of this page as 589 in 605 games. This number comes from the fact that the Campeonato Paulista (SPS), Torneio Rio-São Paulo (RSPS), Taça de Prata and Campeonato Brasileiro were all Brazilian league competitions.
Club
Season
SPSUnless otherwise stated, all statistics relating to Pelé's goal-scoring record between 1957 and 1974 in the SPS, RSPS, and Campeonato Brasileiro are taken from http://soccer-europe.com/Biographies/Pele.html. Soccer Europe compiled this list from http://www.rsssf.com (The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation). For a full list of Pelé's goals, see http://rivelino.caltech.edu/~pelesl/pele/english/pele_statistics.html.
19+17*In 1957 the Sao Paulo championship was split into two halves, Série Azul and Série Branca. In the first half Pelé scored 19 goals in 14 games, and then in Série Azul he scored 17 goals in 15 games See http://paginas.terra.com.br/esporte/rsssfbrasil/tables/sp1957.htm
9
5
38
41
1958
38
58
8
8
46
66
1959
32
45
7
6
4*
2*
43*
53*
1960
30
33
3
0
0
0
0
0
33
33
1961
26
47
7
8
5*
7
0
0
38*
62
1962
26
37
0
0
5*
2*
4*
4*
35*
43*
1963
19
22
8
14
4*
8
4*
5*
35*
49*
1964
21
34
4
3
6*
7
0*
0*
31*
44*
1965
30
49
7
5
4*
2*
7*
8
48*
64*
1966
14
13
0*
0*
5*
2*
0
0
19*
15*
1967
18
17
14*
9*
0
0
0
0
32*
26*
1968
21
17
17*
11*
0
0
0
0
38*
28*
1969
25
26
12*
12*
0
0
37*
38*
1970
15
7
13*
4*
0
0
28*
11*
1971
19
8
21
1
0
0
40
9
1972
20
9
16
5
0
0
36
14
1973
19
11
30
19
0
0
49
30
1974
10
1
17
9
0
0
27
10
All
412
470
53
49
56*
36*
84
34
33*
30*
15
17Totalised statistics relating to Pelé's record in the Copa Libertadores are taken from http://soccer-europe.com/Biographies/Pele.html. Soccer Europe compiled this list from http://www.rsssf.com (The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation), but do not give a season-by-season breakdown. For a full list of Pelé's goals see http://rivelino.caltech.edu/~pelesl/pele/english/pele_statistics.html.
A "*" indicates this number was inferred from a Santos fixture list from rsssf.com and this list of games Pelé played, with the number of goals he scored in each. The list includes all 1282 goals he ever scored.
RecordsPelé is in third place on the list of all-time top goalscorers in international matches, with 77 goals, and 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. He ended his career with a total of 1,281 goals in 1,363 matches, becoming the highest goalscorer in professional football history; however, many of these goals were scored in non-competitive club matches. However, The Brazilian domestic league provided every single starter from the 1958, 1962, and 1970 Brazil World Cup Champions, and can therefore be said to have been one of the strongest in the world. In his 92 appearances for the Brazilian team, he scored 77 goals. 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, Vava, and Zinedine Zidane.Pele goals.
Pelé's Santos was were 2 times Libertadores (against Boca and Penarol in the two finals) and World Club Championship winners (against Eusebio's Benfica and Internazionale in the two finals).Sports awards
In December 2000, Pelé was named Footballer of the Century by a "Family of Football" committee appointed by FIFA, after a Web poll favored Diego Maradona. FIFA announced that a second award would be made after publishing Maradona's victory over Pelé. Critics to the poll point out that the average age of the current internet user could have favoured the idol of the 1980s. Allegations that the Internet poll had been bombarded by Argentine fans still remain to this day.
Miscellaneous *TNA Wrestler A.J. Styles named his backflip kick after Pelé. He calls it the Pelé Kick. *Pelé is one of the first black persons to be featured on the cover of Life magazine. *Pelé was the first sports figure featured in a video game with the Atari 2600 game Pelé's Soccer. *Family: He married Rosemeri in 1966 which ended in divorce (1978) with two children. He married Assiria on April 30, 1994 and the couple have two children. *Pelé's jersey number, 10, has since been worn by many of soccer's top players, including Diego Maradona, Zico, Michel Platini, Roberto Baggio, Carlos Valderrama, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho Gaucho. *Pelé hated his nickname, and was once suspended from school for two days for punching the classmate that coined it.I hated my nickname: Pele, ABC Sports, May 23, 2006 The word has no known meaning, but resembles the Irish language word 'Peile', meaning football, and the Hebrew word פֶּלֶא, meaning "wonder".Taking the Pele BBC, Jan 4, 2006Pele is also a goddess in Polynesian mythology. * In a friendly match played in 1965, Pelé broke the leg of West Germany player Kiesman; an action which many believed to be intentional.[1], "Fala Edu Lima" - É verdade que Pelé quebrou a perna de 5 adversários?, www.edulima.com.br, accessed August 2, 2006. [2] Pele, football-rumours.com, accessed August 2, 2006. * In a Santos - Cruzeiro match, played in 1968, Pelé broke the leg of Procópio. * At the 1970 FIFA World Cup semis, Pelé hit the Uruguayan player Fontes with his elbow. * Pelé's son Edinho (Edson Cholbi Nascimento) was arrested in June 2005 because of his involvement with the Illegal drug trade.Drug trade, chinadaily.com, accessed July 15, 2006
;By year *1958: Pelé was the youngest player to play in a World Cup final at 17 years and 239 days, in Gothenburg, June 19. *1959: Pelé states that his most beautiful goal was scored at Rua Javari stadium on a Campeonato Paulista match against Juventus on August 2. As there is no video footage of this match, Pelé asked that a computer animation be made of this specific goal. This animation can be seen in Pelé Eterno, a documentary about his career. *1962: 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.PELE, Emperor's Palace, May 23, 2006 *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. Ultimate Feats of Fitness, FindArticles, accessed May 23, 2006 *1970: Tarcisio Burgnich, the famous Italian defender who marked Pelé in the 1970 World Cup Finals: "I told myself before the game, he's made of skin and bones just like everyone else — but I was wrong". Pele, King of futbol, ESPN *1974: He also played in a friendly match with the Lebanese club Nejmeh in 1974. He agreed to play with them to pay off his massive debts. *1977: 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 had a cameo role, alongside many other well-known footballers of the 1960s and 1970s, in the film Escape to Victory, about an attempted escape from a NaziPOW Camp during WWII. *2002: Pelé has presented trophies at the Brazilian Grand Prix race several times, but in 2002 he was waving the checkered flag to signify the end of the race and missed the race winner Michael Schumacher crossing the line. *2005: Of the many tributes left to Northern Ireland legend George Best near his hospital bed as he lay dying, one was a signed football from Pelé which read: "From the second best player in the world". Pelé called Best "the greatest footballer in the world".
