Pele
Pele:
Pele was a Brazilian athlete, won fame as the greatest soccer player of his time and the most recognized athlete in world sports. A forward, Pele electrified crowds with his daring dribbling, perfect passing, and accurate shooting. He holds every major scoring record in Brazil, and scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games during his professional career. Pele is the only professional soccer player to score 1,000 goals in a career.
Pele was born in Tres Coracoes, Brazil. His real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento. Pele joined the Santos (Brazil) Football Club in 1956 and led Santos to world club titles in 1962 and 1963. He is the only soccer player to have played on three world championship teams, leading the Brazillian national team to World Cup championships in 1958, 1962, and 1970. Pele retired as a player in 1974 but returned to competition in 1975 with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (N.A.S.L.). Pele retired again after leading the Cosmos to the N.A.S.L. championship in 1977.
The above information is a copyright of World Book 1999 Limited.
Pele and his team. World Cup 1958