Brazilian soccer player who competed as a forward and was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999, and labelled “the greatest” by FIFA. Pelé became a national Brazilian hero and probably the best player in soccer history. His 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, which includes friendlies, is recognised as a Guinness World Record. In his international debut at the 1950 World Cup, he scored two goals in the 4-2 win against Sweden. He subsequently scored a goal in every international game in which he played.
During his career, he became known as “The Black Pearl” (A Pérola Negra), “The King of Football” (O Rei do Futebol), “The King Pelé” (O Rei Pelé) or simply “The King” (O Rei).
Pelé came from a poor family in the impoverished town of Tres Coracoes, Brazil. His family called him “Dico” but his young soccer friends nicknamed him “Pelé.” As a kid, he shined shoes. At 11, he was discovered by Waldemar de Brito, the country’s best soccer player.
In 1956, he began his professional career with Santos FC. The club won nine championships between 1958 and 1969. Pelé quickly became the top scorer in the soccer league. He became not only a legend in his own country but all around the world. In 1967, Nigeria called a 48-hour cease fire so the athlete could play an exhibition match in the capitol of Lagos. Most soccer players careers lasts around five years. Pelé played – at his peak – for 18 years.
In 1970, Pelé played his last World Cup game final. He retired from the Santos Football Club after the 1974 season. In 1975, when he discovered the extent of his financial debts he returned to soccer and played for the New York Cosmos from 1975 to 1977. In 1994, Pelé was named Brazil’s Minister of Sports.
By 1990, he was the representative of Warner as well as the owner of a restaurant under his nickname of “Pelé.”
Pelé married three times and had seven children. He wed his first wife Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi on 21 February 1966, and they had two daughters and a son. The couple divorced in 1982. From 1981 to 1986, Pelé was romantically linked with TV presenter Xuxa, which was influential in launching her career.
He married Assíria Lemos Seixas on 30 May 1994, 17 years his junior; they had twins on 28 September 1996 who were test tube as he had a vasectomy after his divorce from his first marriage. They divorced in 2008.
Pelé had at least two more children from former affairs. Sandra Machado, who was born from an affair Pelé had in 1963-1964 with a housemaid, Anizia Machado, fought for years to be acknowledged by Pelé, who refused to submit to DNA tests. Pelé finally relented after a court-ordered DNA test proved she was his daughter; Machado died of cancer in 2006.
At the age of 75, Pelé married 32-years-younger Marcia Aoki, a Japanese-Brazilian importer of medical equipment, in July 2016.
Pelé died at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo from multiple organ failure, a complication of colon cancer, on 29 December 2022 at the age of 82. He was survived by his 100-year-old mother, Celeste (born 20 November 1922), who, given her advanced age, was not conscious of his death.
Link to Wikipedia biography