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It is hard to find a more famous player in the world than Pele. Almost everyone knows him - from a small child to a grandfather still watching football on TV. Although the younger generation has not really seen this football genius, everyone knows that he can be called the best football player in the world.
Pele, whose real name is Edson Arantes Do Nascimento, was born on October 23, 1940, in a small village of Tres Coracoes, in the province of Brazil. Football surrounded him constantly as a child - all the kids around played football, and his father was a professional football player who unfortunately had to end his career early due to a serious injury. Young Edson, whom his parents called "Dico" in childhood, started kicking the ball at the age of five. Probably recognizing his son's talent, Pelé was trained at a high level in childhood by his father, who could no longer play at that level - Dondinho Nascimento. As he grew up, "Dico" already represented various regional teams such as "Baquinho" or "Sete Setembro," and when he was not playing football, he would shine shoes to contribute to the family's well-being. The stepping stone in his player career came in 1951 - when an eleven-year-old Edson playing in a regional team caught the eye of one of the best Brazilian players of the time, Waldemar de Brito. It was Brito who decided to introduce the young prodigy to the leaders of the Brazilian superclub "Santos." Brito told the leaders, "This boy will become the best football player in the world."
Brito's words were prophetic. Pele debuted in the "Santos" team on September 7, 1956, before he turned sixteen, and already in the 36th minute of his debut match, he scored a goal against one of the greatest "Santos" rivals, "Corinthians." Despite being surrounded by defenders in the penalty box, he managed to score accurately. This was just one of seven goals he scored that night in a brilliant 7-1 victory for "Santos." From then on, this young talent constantly amazed football fans - in his first Brazilian championship match, he scored four goals. In the next season, he became the highest scorer in the championship, in which "Santos" played, scoring 32 goals.
Soon after, he was invited to the Brazilian national team, and in his debut match, he scored a goal against Argentina, but that time Brazil lost 2-1. Since then, Pele represented the Brazilian national team in four World Cup tournaments: 1958 in Sweden, 1962 in Chile, 1966 in England, and 1970 in Mexico.
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In 2000, the "Football King" took second place in the "Athlete of the Century" rankings, behind the famous boxer Muhammad Ali, and Pele once said about himself: "God probably sent me to Earth to play football."
