Thank You, Pele.
By Jim James
Yesterday, the passing of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele, at 82, was announced by his family. He was the original GOAT of the sport, and was one of the players every kid wanted to be growing up. This post is to celebrate the life and career of the best player from the most historic football nation…
Pele was born on October 23, 1940 in Tres Coracores, a place almost exactly Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, and São Paulo. His father, Dondinho, was a Fluminense player. His original nickname was Dico, but it became Pele after his favourite player, Vasco de Gama goalkeeper Bile, which he mispronounced.
At the age of 12, Pele joined the youth academy of Bauru AC, who folded in 1962. At the age of 15, Bauru’s coach Waldemar de Brito took Pele to try out for Santos, claiming he would be “The greatest player in the world”. He impressed manager Lula so much that at the age of 15 years and 10 months on September 7th 1956, he was given his Santos debut vs Corinthians, and scored in a 7-1 victory.
At only the age of 16, Pele became the Brazilian Serie A’s top scorer, and at 17, made World Cup history by being the (at the time) youngest squad member and youngest player. Records that still stand are youngest scorer, youngest final scorer, and youngest winner of the World Cup in 1958.
At only 17, Pele scored 58 Serie A goals, a record still standing, as Santos won it for Pele’s first major club title. When he was 19, he scored 47 goals.
Pele competed in 4 World Cups, and won 3, with him being the best player in the world for the 1962, ‘66, and ‘70 tournaments. The most famous of these was his efforts in the 1970 World Cup. He scored 4 times and had 4 assists, with his opener in the final vs Italy, with him jumping into the arms of Jairzinho is one of the most famous images in football history as Brazil won 4-1.
In total for Santos, Pele played 636 official games and scored 618 times. Who can forget when, in 1969, the prospect of watching Pele caused a 48-hour ceasefire in the Nigerian Civil War.
Pele was courted by many European teams, such as Inter, Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Barcelona. Valencia were the team closest to signing him, but were forced to rip up the contracts after protests in Brazil.
In 1975, at the age of 35, Pele joined New York Cosmos in the NASL. His signing convinced other legends such as Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore, Carlos Alberto, Eusebio, George Best, and Gordon Banks to join the league. Even at his old age, in 64 appearances he scored 37 goals.
When you say that Pele was a fraud, you just don’t know your stuff. He was truly one of the greatest the sport has ever seen, top 3 undoubtedly, and perhaps even the best. I’m Jim James, until next time.