As far as the World Cup is concerned, is there any other player more synonymous with the famous tournament than Pelé? He’s the only player to have won three World Cup’s, winning it three tournaments out of four with the Seleção.
Before he was known for selling Viagra, he was the best player in the world. O Rei, the King.
Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento to a Fluminense footballer father, and younger brother of a Santos player, he was destined for the beautiful game. He grew up in poverty in Bauru, São Paulo state.
From 1957 through to 1974, Pelé played for Santos, scoring hundreds and hundreds of goals before taking part in the first US crack at football (or soccer) with one of the sexiest names in the sport, the New York Cosmos. His career total is a staggering 757 official goals. When you count the goals scored in exhibition matches, unofficial friendlies and the extensive tours around the world that Santos went on in the 1960s and 1970s to cash in on his name, Pelé scored 1,279 goals in 1,363 games. Some people may dispute this number or the quality of the opposition, but you can’t deny he was a goalscorer and an entertainer.
At international level is where he made his name though. From 1958 until the 1970 World Cup, Brazil dominated (aside from the blip in England in 1966). Overall, Pelé scored 77 goals in 92 appearances for the national side. He starred in the World Cup, but it all began as a vow to his father in 1950.
After the Maracanazo in 1950, a 9-year-old Pelé watched his father cry after Brazil were beaten by Uruguay at their home World Cup. He vowed there and then that he would win a World Cup for his father and just 8 years later he delivered.
The 1958 World Cup in Sweden was his first World Cup. He burst on the scene like no player before or since, making waves in the tournament but really coming to life in the final, the youngest player to ever play in a World Cup final, score in a World Cup final, and win it. At the start of the tournament, he was a substitute but grew into the game, scoring a hat-trick against Sweden in the semi-final against France and scoring a brace in the final against Sweden, a 5-2 victory. Alongside Garrincha and Didi, Pelé was the star of the tournament.
Four years later the team went to Chile to defend their title, and still no team has won back-to-back World Cup’s since, showing how difficult it is to do (Italy had won it in 1934 and 1938). He played well in the opening match, scoring and assisting against Mexico, but suffered a groin injury in the second match against Czechoslovakia and would miss the rest of the tournament. It was gutting for Pelé, but the team went on to win the whole thing, a second winners medal for Pelé.
1966 was a disaster for Brazil, with Pelé repeatedly kicked and fouled, with poor officiating. He left two of the three group matches injured, the latter on a stretcher after heavy fouls from the Portuguese players. They went out in the group stage.
1970 was the first World Cup in colour. The yellow Brazilian kit shone on the screen and the exotic, exciting, play astounded the global audience. Pelé would score four goals, winning the Golden Boot, including a goal in the 4-1 win against Italy in the final and assisting Carlos Alberto to that famous team goal to beat all team goals. This is the team that made the World love Brazil and the style of play, the images of Pelé in the Azteca on that hot, hazy day, battering a defensively robust side like Italy as if they were playing against much younger kids in the playground. Toying with them.
It was the last time Brazil would dominate the World Cup, and they got to keep the Jules Rimet trophy that day, as it was the third time they had won it. It was hard to see how they wouldn’t continue to dominate, even with ageing stars in the lineup, but it would be another 24 years before Brazil would win again, after the romantic side of Socrates and Zico would miss out despite playing lovely football in the 1980s.
Pelé would be there in 1994, walking onto the pitch at the Rose Bowl in California hand-in-hand with Whitney Houston. They were meant to go over and take a penalty like Diana Ross had done so well in the opening ceremony, but Pelé took pity and walked her away from the goals to the centre circle instead. A boring match would end in a Brazilian victory in a penalty shootout.
In later life, Pelé would advertise Viagra, look at the camera and tell men to “Talk to your doctor. I would”. Pelé always knew how to score.
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