The whole world mourns: the legendary Pele - 'king of football' has died

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known around the world as Pele, has died. The Brazilian football legend was 82 years old. More about it told the publication with the BBC.

Photo: IStock

The player's death was confirmed by his agent Joe Frag. Pele's daughter Kelly Nascimento regularly updated fans on her father's health on social media from the hospital.

“Everything we are is because of you. We love you endlessly. Rest in peace,” she wrote on Instagram and posted a photo in which many hands fell, probably on the body of her father in a hospital room.

In September 2021, Pelé had a colon tumor removed and has received regular treatment ever since. In early December 2022, the legendary football player was hospitalized.

“Football was invented for Pelé,” legendary England and Manchester United captain Bobby Charlton once said.

For many commentators and fans, Pele is the most vivid personification of football and the best player in history.

Lightning speed was combined with his deadly accuracy of shots on goal.

Pele was not only an athlete, but also a public figure who fought for the environment and a better life for the poor.

At home, he became a national hero, in the world - an idol for millions.

The birth of a star

The success of Brazilian football is attributed to the hot southern temperament, a warm climate that allows teenagers to kick the ball all year round, and the poverty of a large part of the population. Every boy from a simple family knew from early childhood that for him the most reliable way to break into people is to become a good football player.

This is exactly the path followed by Edson Arantes do Nascimento, who was born in 1940 in the city of Tres Coracoins in southeastern Brazil.

The date of birth in his documents is October 21, but Pele insisted that he was born two days later.

“We in Brazil don't worry about accuracy,” he explained.

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Parents named their son in honor of the American inventor, the “king of electricity” Thomas Edison, because the day before they had a light in their house, but why the letter “and” was thrown out of the name is unknown. But, as we see, the title "king" came to him, though in football.

When the Pele family moved to the city of Bauru, the boy worked part-time in a cafe. His father taught him to play football, but his parents were so poor that they could not buy a ball, and the future world champion trained by tossing an old sock stuffed with rags.

Just Pele

The nickname was given to him by school friends, and neither they nor Pele himself could say what it meant.

He did not like the nickname, because it resembled a Portuguese word imitating baby talk.

While still a teenager, he began to play for local amateur teams.

Back then, indoor soccer was gaining popularity in Brazil. Young Pele liked him more than an open stadium.

“I was there like a fish in water,” he recalled. “We need to react faster.”

Modern futsal is also much faster, more technical and more dynamic than "big" football.

He was the captain of the junior team of the city's Athletic club, but even then his bright talent was obvious to everyone.

In June 1956, coach Valdemar de Brito invited the 15-year-old Pele to the Santos professional club, telling the club's directors that this guy would become the best player in the world.

Rapid rise

A year later, Pele entered the main team of Santos, scored a goal in the first game, and by the end of the season became the top scorer in the Brazilian Football League. After another 10 months, he was included in the national team.

He played his first international match against Argentina at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilians then lost with a score of 1:2.

The only Brazilian goal came from Pelé, who became the youngest player in football history to score in a national team match.

Sports managers did not want to take him to the 1958 World Cup, because he had injured his knee before that, but teammates convinced them. Pele's first match in the World Cups was the game against the USSR national team.

World triumph

In the quarter final against Wales, Pele scored again and set another record - now he became the youngest among the players who scored at the World Cup.

In the semi-final with the French team, which the Brazilians won 2-1, he scored the second goal, which ensured victory.

In the final against Sweden, Pelé scored two goals. The Brazilians won 5-2 and became world champions for the first time. Subsequently, they won the World Cup four more times and became the most successful football team in history.

Returning home, Pele, along with Santos, won the Brazilian championship and again became the league's top scorer. Then he scored 58 goals, which to this day is the record of the Brazilian national championships.

In 1962, Santos won what is considered a historic match against the Portuguese Benfica. Pele scored three goals.

“I hoped to stop this great man, but I was surpassed by one who, unlike all of us, was born on another planet,” goalkeeper Costa Pereira said at the time.

Wealthy clubs, in particular Manchester United and Real Madrid, were racing to secure a contract with the best player in the world. In response, the Brazilian government declared Pele a national treasure by special decree and banned him from playing for foreign clubs.

The dream Team

At the 1962 and 1966 World Cups, Pele failed to prove himself in full force. He was the main target for the defenders of all teams, so both times due to injuries he could not finish the championships to the end. Although in 1962 the team still became the champion.

However, the 1970 world championship in Mexico was a real triumph for the 30-year-old scorer: he scored four goals, in particular in the final with the Italians.

The Brazilian national team won the Jules Cup for the third time in Rome and received the right to keep it forever.

This squad is considered the best in the history of Brazilian football. Together with Pele, such world stars as Jairzinho and Rivelino played in it.

With the development of satellite television, matches from Mexico were broadcast live for the first time around the world.

Pele is still the only footballer in history to win the World Cup three times with the national team.

In 1969, he scored his 1000th goal of his professional career - albeit to the disappointment of the fans, from a penalty, and not due to a good combination.

The best athlete in history

During his professional career, Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 matches, including 1091 in 1116 games for Santos and 77 in 92 matches for the national team, a Guinness World Record.

He was called a player who does not leave the field without a goal, although this is a certain exaggeration. But insignificant.

In 1999, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declared Pele the most outstanding athlete in history. He is also considered the best football player of the XNUMXth century according to FIFA and a member of the symbolic world team of all time.

Pele played his last match for the Brazilian national team on July 18, 1971 in Rio de Janeiro against the Yugoslav team, the last match for Santos in 1974.

Life's hardships

In the mid-1960s, Pelé ran into serious financial problems and went into debt, according to him, because of bad financial advisers.

The military, who then ruled in Brazil, initiated an investigation against the athlete because of his sympathy for the left.

In 1975, Pele, unexpectedly for everyone, signed a contract with the New York club Cosmos, becoming the most paid football player in the world at that time.

He said that he did this to improve his financial situation and popularize this wonderful game in the USA. Before Pele, only American football was known in the USA, which had little in common with European football.

In 1976, "Cosmos" won the championship of the North American Football League, and the attendance of the club's matches with the arrival of Pelé increased tenfold.

The last time Pele entered the field was on October 1, 1977 in a friendly match between Cosmos and his native Santos, in which he played the first half for Cosmos and the second for Santos.

Minister, ambassador and global brand

Pele is known even to those who are not at all interested in football.

After his sports career ended, he turned his name into a trademark and once joked that there are only three really big brands in the world: Jesus, Coca-Cola and Pele.

In the 1990s, he was UN Environment Ambassador and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, in 1995-1998. served as Minister of Sports of Brazil and tried to fight corruption in football.

In 1981, he played with Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine in the Hollywood film Flight to Victory.

Pele's public activism was instrumental in granting Rio de Janeiro the right to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

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In 1998, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Pele the Order of the British Empire.

The legendary footballer spoke out against Russia's war in Ukraine. And he called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the aggression.

“There is absolutely no justification for this ongoing violence. This conflict is terrible, unjustified and brings nothing but pain, fear and hatred, - wrote the legendary football player in an open letter to Putin, published on Pele's Instagram page. The ability to end the war is in your hands - those that I shook during our last meeting in Moscow in 2017.”

Then Pele participated in the events of the International Football Federation, preceding the World Cup, held in Russia in 2018.

Pele has been married three times and has five children. According to rumors, he had many affairs and even illegitimate children, but there is no evidence for this.

The three-time World Cup winner had a colon tumor removed in September 2021 and has received regular treatment ever since.

In the last years of his life, Pele underwent surgery on the neck of his thigh and moved in a wheelchair.

But people don't remember him that way. The sports genius Pele brought joy to millions, he was deeply respected by both fans and rivals.

“Pelé is not just a great athlete, he is much more,” said the famous Hungarian center forward Ferenc Puskas.

Perhaps Nelson Mandela revealed the essence of Pele's unique talent better: “Watching his game, we saw a combination of childish passion and mature courage.”

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