In our country, he is known for his soccer playing, but in most of the world, it’s called football.

Whatever you want to call the sport, Pele is rated by many as the greatest of all-time.

It was over 67 years ago that Edison Arantes do Nascimento was born in Brazil, being named after American inventor Thomas Edison. He was originally nicknamed Dico by his family, but during his school days it became Pele. Why? The only possible speculated reason was that his favorite local player’s last name was Bile’ which he misspoke “Pile’. ”

Growing up in poverty, Pele could not afford a proper soccer ball and usually played with either a sock stuffed with newspaper, tied with a string or a grapefruit. He was taught the game by his father who had a short pro career halted by a knee injury.

At the age of 15 1/2, he joined the Santos FC Junior team, played one season and joined the national senior team. When he was 17, Pele played on his first World Cup championship team in 1958, and scored two goals in a 4-2 win over Sweden in the final. In all, he competed on four Brazilian World Cup teams with the 1962 and 1970 teams also winning, making him the only player to possess three World Cup gold medals.

Pele scored over 1200 goals in his professional career, but in describing his brilliance as a player these words were used……technique, natural athleticism, visionary passing, unstoppable dribbling, pace, exceptional heading ability, powerful shot, and exceptionally prolific goalscorer.

He became more famous in the U. S. when he came out of retirement in 1975 to play for the New York Cosmos in the new North American Soccer League. After the Cosmos won the NASL title in 1977, Pele retired again. In 1999, he was named Athlete of the Century by the world’s combined National Olympic committees although Pele never played in the Olympics himself.

Today, Pele remains an ambassador for his sport, seeks to improve the social conditions of the poor, is involved in commercial ventures and does some acting.

How popular was Pele in his heyday? In 1967, the two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch him play an exhibition game in Lagos. Now that is popular.

Ross Porter