On December 29, 2022, the 

 legendary Brazilian football player Pele

died .

The "King of Football" was 82 years old.

For more than a year, Pele fought cancer.

He spent the last month of his life in the hospital, where he was hospitalized on November 29 due to a respiratory infection.

TSN Prosport tells about the life path and achievements of one of the greatest players in the history of football. 

Pele's childhood and first steps in football

One of the greatest players in the history of football, Edson Arantís do Nascimento (Pele) was born on October 23, 1940 in the municipality of Tres Corações in the state of Minas Gerais in the east of Brazil.

His father, Juan Ramos do Nascimento (Dondinho), played professional football for one of the local clubs.

Once Dondinho was invited to one of the most famous clubs in the country - "Atletico Mineiro".

For a poor family, it was a chance to get out of poverty, but a serious injury prevented him from showing himself.

Dondinho was injured in the very first game against San Cristobal after a collision with Augusto (the future captain of Brazil at the 1950 World Cup).

Pele's mother, Celeste Arantis, was a housewife.

The oldest of the children was named after the famous inventor Thomas Edison.

But in Pele's birth certificate, they mistakenly forgot to write the letter "i" - that's how the name Edson came out.

In addition to Edson, there were three more children in the family - two younger brothers and a younger sister.

He received the nickname Pele during his school years - in honor of the local goalkeeper "Vasco da Gama" Bile, who was his favorite player.

Pele became interested in football at the age of 7.

His family moved to Bauru, where the Brazilian took his first steps in football.

He played for one of the local teams, and the future "King of Football" had to play even without boots, because his family was so poor that they could not provide the boy with shoes.

Difficulties did not scare Pele.

He often played barefoot, and in his teens he worked as a waiter.

By the age of 15, Pele changed several teams and even managed to play mini-football, and then he got to the main club of his life - Santos.

Pele is the legend of "Santos"

Initially, Pele played for the "youth", but then the attacker of the main team of "Santos" was injured, so the boy got a chance to try himself in adult football.

And he took full advantage of it.

In 1956, Pele made his debut in a match against Corinthians and scored a goal.

Every year, Pele only rapidly added to his football skills.

He became the top scorer of the state championship 9 times, and 1959 was simply incredible for the Brazilian - Pele scored 126 goals in 104 matches.

Together with Pele, "Santos" won nine league championships of Sao Paulo, and in 1962 and 1963 won the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup.

In almost 20 years at Santos, Pele helped the club win more than 20 trophies, repeatedly became the top scorer of the tournament and once even scored 8 goals in one match - in a game against Botafogo.

As part of Santos, Pele played 636 matches and scored 618 goals.

In 1974, Pele ended his career, but then decided to return to football due to financial problems.

In 1975, Pele signed a contract with the American "New York Cosmos", becoming the highest paid football player in the world.

His salary then was 1.4 million dollars a year.

He played for Cosmos for three years (37 goals in 64 matches) and left the club on a high note: in the 1977 season, the Brazilian won the North American Football League and became the tournament's top scorer.

In 1977, Pele finally hung up his boots on a nail.

Pele's magical career in the Brazilian national team

Pele made his debut for the national team on July 7, 1957 in a friendly match against Argentina.

"Selasao" succumbed with a score of 1:2, but one of the goals was scored by 16-year-old Pele at that time.

And the very next year, Pele made his official debut for the Brazilian national team on June 15, 1958, at the World Cup in Sweden - in a match against the USSR, where he provided an assist.

At the time, he was the youngest player (17 years old) ever to compete in the World Cup.

Photo: Associated Press

Pele went on to score in every subsequent match at the tournament.

He scored one goal against Wales in the quarter-finals, scored a hat-trick against the French in the semi-finals, and scored twice against Sweden in the final.

As a result, the Brazilian national team won the World Cup, and 17-year-old Pele was recognized as the best young player of the tournament.

The next year, in 1958, Pelé traveled to his first World Cup, making his debut against Russia, recovering from an injury.

Fazendo 6 goals in that cup, including in the final, uma pintura, um golaço, vancendo por 5x2 a Suécia.

pic.twitter.com/ln0BanBaRT

— ENEJOTA (18-18) (@mauri_limaa_) December 24, 2022

The 1962 World Cup in Chile and the 1970 World Cup in Mexico were also triumphant for Pele, where he was recognized as the best player of the tournament.

Thus, Pele is the only football player in history who became the world champion three times as a player (1958, 1962 and 1970).

Pele played for the Brazilian national team until 1971.

Pele played a total of 93 matches in the national team shirt and scored 77 goals.

Photo: Associated Press

Pele's titles and achievements

São Paulo State Champion: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1973.

  • top scorer in the São Paulo state championship: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 1965, 1969 and 1973

Rio Sao Paulo Tournament: 1959, 1963 and 1964

  • top scorer of the Rio Sao Paulo Tournament: 1963

Brazilian Cup: 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965


Copa Libertadores: 1962 and 1963


Intercontinental Cup: 1962 and 1963


North American Soccer League Champion: 1977


South American Championship Silver Medalist: 1959 (Argentina)

  • Copa America top scorer: 1959

World champion: 1958, 1962 and 1970


Participant of the world championships: 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970


The best footballer of the 20th century according to FIFA


The best footballer of the 20th century according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics

Photo: Associated Press

Pele's path after the end of his career and the fight against the disease

After he finished his career, Pele held the position of minister of Brazil, published several autobiographies, wrote music, worked in the coaching staff of Santos and even acted in movies.

Recently, the health of the "King of Football" has deteriorated sharply.

In September 2021, Pele underwent surgery to remove a tumor in the right part of the colon.

In February of this year, he was hospitalized for two weeks due to a urinary tract infection.

The Brazilian was also treated for colon cancer in the spring.

However, chemotherapy did not help.

In late November 2022, Pele 

developed edema

, heart problems, and confusion.

Against this background, a decision was made on his emergency hospitalization.

However, Pele himself tried to reassure his fans and 

announced

that he was in the hospital with a scheduled monthly visit.

Pele spent the last days of his life with his family in a São Paulo hospital, where he received palliative care.

His family never left him.

Read also:

In memory of the "King of Football": video of the best goals in the career of the legendary Pele

The legendary Pele addressed the fans amid rumors of his deteriorating health

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