Pele, who was regarded as the best-loved footballer of his or any other generation, died on Thursday, at the age of 82, after multiple ailments.
However, according to Punch News, it has been reported that there are few facts to know about the Brazil football legend, Pele.
1. Pele, whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, was born in October 1940, and played his first game for Santos as a 15-year-old in 1956.
2. He won the World Cup with Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970. His sumptuous range of skills made him the embodiment of his country’s golden age of football.
3. When he finally retired in 1977, he had scored more than 1,000 goals.
4. He was reported to have scored 77 goals for Brazil, a mark only equalled at the recent World Cup by Neymar.
5. His impact on his sport went far beyond the pitch as he also became a money-making phenomenon, lending his name to sportswear, credit cards and watches, among other products.
6. Pele earned a call-up to the national team in 1957, scoring on his debut against Argentina. In 1958, he was picked for the World Cup in Sweden.
7. At 17, he became the youngest World Cup winner in history. The next two tournaments, however, were to be unhappy experiences.
8. Twenty-one by the time of the 1962 World Cup in Chile, an older, stronger Pele had been expected to take the tournament by storm.
9. Pele was to continue playing club football for his beloved Santos and later the New York Cosmos. However, he retired from international duty in 1971, and made an emotional farewell in front of 180,000 fans at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
10. Pele inspired New York to the national title in his final season with the club, which featured fellow greats Franz Beckenbauer, Italian striker Giorgio Chinaglia and former Brazil captain Carlos Alberto in 1977.
11. Pele also had an appearance in the 1981 film, Escape to Victory, about Allied Prisoners of War during World War II, along with the likes of Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone and Moore.
12. Between 1995 and 1998, he was even Brazil’s Extraordinary Minister for Sport, while he also regularly appeared in public as an ambassador for numerous commercial brands.
13. He married for the third time in 2016, tying the knot with Marcia Aoki.
Kindly drop your opinions as regards the football legend’s sports career, and express your condolences to his family and fans across the globe.
Source: Punch News
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