73-1029: Vava may refer to: People [ edit ] Vavá (1934–2002), full name Edvaldo Izidio Neto, Brazilian football striker Vavá (footballer, born 1929) , full name Walter José Pereira, Brazilian football striker Vavá II (born 1944), Spanish retired footballer Vava Suresh (born 1974), Indian wildlife conservationist and snake expert Vavá (footballer, born 1976) , full name Marcelo Gonçalves Vieira, Brazilian football striker Fedy Vava (born 1982), Vanuatuan football defender Vavá Pequeno (born 1994), full name Edley Dos Anjos Pereira Montoia, Santomean football defender Vava (rapper) (born 1995), full name Mao Yanqi, Chinese rapper Places [ edit ] Vava (Babušnica) , municipality of Babušnica, Serbia Ulakhan-Vava (Big Vava), river in Yakutia, Russia Other uses [ edit ] Vava II , superyacht owned by Ernesto Bertarelli Topics referred to by
146-534: A playmaker , providing assists with his vision and passing ability. He would often use his dribbling skills to go past opponents. In Brazil, he was hailed as a national hero for his accomplishments in football and for his outspoken support of policies that improve the social conditions of the poor. His emergence at the 1958 World Cup, where he became a black global sporting star, was a source of inspiration. Throughout his career and in his retirement, Pelé received numerous individual and team awards for his performance on
219-413: A 20-yard bending free-kick, with Brazil winning 3–2. In the quarter-final against Peru , Brazil won 4–2, with Pelé assisting Tostão for Brazil's third goal. In the semi-final, Brazil faced Uruguay for the first time since the 1950 World Cup final round match . Jairzinho put Brazil ahead 2–1, and Pelé assisted Rivellino for the 3–1. During that match, Pelé made one of his most famous plays . Tostão passed
292-570: A 7–1 victory, scoring the first goal in his prolific career during the match. When the 1957 season started, Pelé was given a starting place in the first team and, at the age of 16, became the top scorer in the league. Ten months after signing professionally, the teenager was called up to the Brazil national team . After the 1958 and the 1962 World Cup , wealthy European clubs, such as Real Madrid , Juventus and Manchester United , tried to sign him in vain. In 1958, Inter Milan even managed to get him
365-620: A 9–4 defeat by Cruzeiro (led by Tostão ) in the final series. The club did, however, win the Campeonato Paulista in 1967, 1968, and 1969. On 19 November 1969, Pelé scored his 1,000th goal in all competitions, in what was a highly anticipated moment in Brazil. The goal dubbed O Milésimo (The Thousandth), occurred in a match against Vasco da Gama, when Pelé scored from a penalty kick, at the Maracanã Stadium. Various sources have said that
438-560: A Brazil XI side against the Rest of The World in a farewell game for Garrincha, scoring the equalizer in an eventual 2–1 win. On 21 July 1983, the 42-year-old Pelé played for another Brazil XI side against a South Brazil team in Goiânia in a friendly match organized by Zico to benefit the victims of a flood in Santa Catarina ; he scored a free-kick in a 1–2 loss. Pelé was known for connecting
511-894: A US record crowd of 77,891 for what turned into an 8–3 rout of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Giants Stadium. In the second leg of the semi-finals against the Rochester Lancers , the Cosmos won 4–1. Pelé finished his official playing career on 28 August 1977, by leading the New York Cosmos to their second Soccer Bowl title with a 2–1 win over the Seattle Sounders at the Civic Stadium in Portland, Oregon . On 1 October 1977, Pelé closed out his career in an exhibition match between
584-544: A central role in Brazil's way to the final. All of Brazil's matches in the tournament (except the final) were played in Guadalajara , and in the first match against Czechoslovakia, Pelé gave Brazil a 2–1 lead, by controlling Gerson's 50-yard pass with his chest and then scoring. In this match Pelé attempted to lob goalkeeper Ivo Viktor from the halfway line, only narrowly missing the Czechoslovak goal. Brazil went on to win
657-524: A collar of roses, and he removed it from him and put it on her. When she asked what was going on and who was this person, whom she did not know because she did not like football, the hotel staff told her that he was the famous Brazilian football player, and that the hotel was crowded with his fans who wanted to see him. Zubaida Tharwat stated that after he saw her for the first time inside the hotel where they happened to be, he kept chasing her day and night, and wanted to take her with him to Brazil. By chance,
730-473: A computer animation be made of this specific goal. In March 1961, Pelé scored the gol de placa (goal worthy of a plaque), against Fluminense at the Maracanã. Pelé received the ball on the edge of his own penalty area, and ran the length of the field, eluding opposition players with feints , before striking the ball beyond the goalkeeper. A plaque was commissioned with a dedication to "the most beautiful goal in
803-473: A defender before volleying into the corner of the net, was selected as one of the best goals in the history of the World Cup. Following Pelé's second goal, Swedish player Sigvard Parling would later comment, "When Pelé scored the fifth goal in that Final, I have to be honest and say I felt like applauding". When the match ended, Pelé passed out on the field, and was revived by Garrincha. He then recovered, and
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#1732852078173876-465: A hat-trick against Paraguay . When the 1962 World Cup started, Pelé was considered the best player in the world. In the first match of the 1962 World Cup in Chile, against Mexico , Pelé assisted the first goal and then scored the second one, after a run past four defenders, to go up 2–0. He got injured in the next game while attempting a long-range shot against Czechoslovakia . This would keep him out of
949-456: A hat-trick, becoming the youngest player in World Cup history to do so. On 29 June 1958, Pelé became the youngest player to play in a World Cup final match at 17 years and 249 days. He scored two goals in that final as Brazil beat Sweden 5–2 in Stockholm, the capital. Pelé hit the post and then Vavá scored two goals to give Brazil the lead. Pelé's first goal, where he flicked the ball over
1022-526: A last-minute goal in the first leg of the semi-finals which made it 1–1. In the second leg, Pelé scored a hat-trick in the Estádio do Maracanã as Santos won, 0–4, in the second leg. Santos started the final series by winning, 3–2, in the first leg and defeating Boca Juniors 1–2, in La Bombonera . It was a rare feat in official competitions, with another goal from Pelé. Santos became the first Brazilian team to lift
1095-535: A playoff was needed to break the tie. Unlike 1962, Peñarol came out on top and eliminated Santos 2–1. Pelé would, however, finish as the top scorer of the tournament with eight goals. In December 1965, Santos won the Taça Brasil , their fifth straight Brazilian league title, with Pelé scoring the last goal in the final series. In 1966, Santos failed to retain the Taça Brasil as Pelé's goals were not enough to prevent
1168-518: A regular contract, but Angelo Moratti was forced to tear the contract up at the request of Santos's chairman following a revolt by Santos's Brazilian fans. Valencia CF also arranged an agreement that would have brought Pelé to the club after the 1958 World Cup, however after his performances at the tournament, Santos declined to let the player leave. In 1961 the government of Brazil under President Jânio Quadros declared Pelé an "official national treasure" to prevent him from being transferred out of
1241-552: A variety of attacking positions . Although he often operated inside the penalty area as a striker or centre forward , his wide range of skills allowed him to play as an inside forward or a second striker . In his later career, he took on a playmaking role behind the strikers, often functioning as an attacking midfielder . Pelé's unique playing style combined speed, creativity, and technical skill with physical power, stamina, and athleticism. His technique, flair, agility, and dribbling skills allowed him to beat opponents with
1314-448: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Vav%C3%A1 Edvaldo Izidio Neto (12 November 1934 – 19 January 2002), commonly known as Vavá , was a Brazilian professional footballer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest strikers of his generation. Nicknamed "Peito de Aço" (Steel Chest), he most notably played for Vasco da Gama , Atlético Madrid , Palmeiras and
1387-517: Is often considered the greatest team goal of all time because it involved all but two of the team's outfield players. The play culminated after Pelé made a blind pass that went into Carlos Alberto's running trajectory. He came running from behind and struck the ball to score. Brazil won the match 4–1, keeping the Jules Rimet Trophy indefinitely, and Pelé received the Golden Ball as the player of
1460-418: The 1952 Summer Olympics . Vavá scored in the World Cup finals of both 1958 (twice) and 1962 (once), thus becoming the first player to score in two finals. To this day, only five players have achieved this feat, the other four being Pelé , Paul Breitner , Zinedine Zidane , and Kylian Mbappé . He remained the only player to have scored in two consecutive World Cup final matches until Kylian Mbappé achieved
1533-403: The 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores , and to the 1962 and 1963 Intercontinental Cup . Credited with connecting the phrase " The Beautiful Game " with football, Pelé's "electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals" made him a global star, and his teams toured internationally to take full advantage of his popularity. During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the best-paid athlete in
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#17328520781731606-543: The 1962 Intercontinental Cup against Benfica . Wearing his number 10 shirt , Pelé produced one of the best performances of his career, scoring a hat-trick in Lisbon as Santos won 5–2. Pelé states that his most memorable goal was scored at the Estádio Rua Javari on a Campeonato Paulista match against São Paulo rival Clube Atlético Juventus on 2 August 1959. As there is no video footage of this match, Pelé asked that
1679-466: The 1964 Copa Libertadores , Santos was beaten in both legs of the semi-finals by Independiente . The club won the Campeonato Paulista, with Pelé netting 34 goals. Santos also shared the Rio-São Paulo title with Botafogo and won the Taça Brasil for the fourth consecutive year. In the 1965 Copa Libertadores , Santos reached the semi-finals and met Peñarol in a rematch of the 1962 final. After two matches,
1752-423: The Brazil national team . Vavá earned twenty caps with the Brazil national team between 1955 and 1964, scoring a total of fifteen goals. He was in the side that won both the 1958 and 1962 FIFA World Cups , in which he scored five and four goals, respectively. Furthermore, he was a joint-recipient of the 1962 World Cup Golden Boot as one of the tournament's top scorers. Vavá was also part of Brazil's squad for
1825-596: The New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1975 season . At a chaotic press conference at New York's 21 Club , the Cosmos unveiled Pelé. John O'Reilly, the club's media spokesman, stated, "We had superstars in the United States but nothing at the level of Pelé. Everyone wanted to touch him, shake his hand, get a photo with him." Though well past his prime at this point, Pelé
1898-568: The American inventor Thomas Edison . His parents decided to remove the "i" and call him "Edson", but there was a typo on his birth certificate, leading many documents to show his name as "Edison", not "Edson", as he was called. He was originally nicknamed "Dico" by his family. He received the nickname "Pelé" during his school days, it is claimed, after mispronouncing the name of his favourite player, Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Bilé. In his autobiography released in 2006, Pelé stated he had no idea what
1971-482: The Campeonato Paulista trophy but lost out on the Rio-São Paulo tournament after finishing in 8th place. In the 1960 season, Pelé scored 47 goals and helped Santos regain the Campeonato Paulista. The club went on to win the Taça Brasil that same year, beating Bahia in the finals; Pelé finished as the top scorer of the tournament with nine goals. The victory allowed Santos to participate in the Copa Libertadores ,
2044-579: The Copa Libertadores in Argentine soil. Pelé finished the tournament with five goals. Santos lost the Campeonato Paulista after finishing in third place but went on to win the Rio-São Paulo tournament after a 0–3 win over Flamengo in the final, with Pelé scoring one goal. Pelé would also help Santos retain the Intercontinental Cup and the Taça Brasil against AC Milan and Bahia respectively. In
2117-457: The Cosmos and Santos. The match was played in front of a sold-out crowd at Giants Stadium and was televised in the US on ABC 's Wide World of Sports as well as throughout the world. Pelé's father and wife both attended the match, as well as Muhammad Ali and Bobby Moore. Delivering a message to the audience before the start of the game—"Love is more important than what we can take in life"—Pelé played
2190-574: The Cosmos, then Franz Beckenbauer and his former Santos teammate Carlos Alberto . Over the next few years other players came to the league, including Johan Cruyff , Eusébio , Bobby Moore , George Best and Gordon Banks . In 1975, one week before the Lebanese Civil War , Pelé played a friendly game for the Lebanese club Nejmeh against a team of Lebanese Premier League stars, scoring two goals which were not included in his official tally. On
2263-529: The Maracanã. In that match, he scored his first goal for Brazil aged 16 years and eight months, and he remains the youngest goalscorer for his country. Pelé arrived in Sweden sidelined by a knee injury but on his return from the treatment room, his colleagues stood together and insisted upon his selection. His first match was against the USSR in the third match of the first round of the 1958 FIFA World Cup, where he gave
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2336-534: The Portuguese led by Eusébio and were eliminated from the tournament as a result. After this game he vowed he would never again play in the World Cup, a decision he would later change. Pelé was called to the national team in early 1969, he refused at first, but then accepted and played in six World Cup qualifying matches, scoring six goals. The 1970 World Cup in Mexico was expected to be Pelé's last. Brazil's squad for
2409-431: The assist to Vavá's second goal. He was at the time the youngest player ever to participate in the World Cup. He scored his first World Cup goal against Wales in the quarter-finals, the only goal of the match, to help Brazil advance to the semi-finals while becoming the youngest ever World Cup goalscorer at 17 years and 239 days. Against France in the semi-final, Brazil was leading 2–1 at halftime, and then Pelé scored
2482-415: The ball for Pelé to collect which Uruguay's goalkeeper Ladislao Mazurkiewicz took notice of and ran off his line to get the ball before Pelé. However, Pelé got there first and fooled Mazurkiewicz with a feint by not touching the ball, causing it to roll to the goalkeeper's left, while Pelé went to the goalkeeper's right. Pelé ran around the goalkeeper to retrieve the ball and took a shot while turning towards
2555-563: The club's directors that the 15-year-old would be "the greatest football player in the world". Pelé impressed Santos coach Lula during his trial at the Estádio Vila Belmiro , and he signed a professional contract with the club in June 1956. Pelé was highly promoted in the local media as a future superstar. He made his senior team debut on 7 September 1956 at the age of 15 against Corinthians de Santo André and had an impressive performance in
2628-621: The country. Pelé won his first major title with Santos in 1958 as the team won the Campeonato Paulista ; he would finish the tournament as the top scorer, with 58 goals, a record that still stands today. A year later, he would help the team earn their first victory in the Torneio Rio-São Paulo with a 3–0 over Vasco da Gama. However, Santos was unable to retain the Paulista title. In 1960, Pelé scored 33 goals to help his team regain
2701-481: The day of the game, 40,000 spectators were at the stadium from early morning to watch the match. Pelé led the Cosmos to the 1977 Soccer Bowl , in his third and final season with the club. In June 1977, the Cosmos attracted an NASL record 62,394 fans to Giants Stadium for a 3–0 victory past the Tampa Bay Rowdies with a 37-year-old Pelé scoring a hat-trick. In the first leg of the quarter-finals, they attracted
2774-569: The feat in the 2022 World Cup final, having also scored in the final in 2018. Sport Recife Vasco da Gama Atlético de Madrid Palmeiras Club América Brazil national football team Pel%C3%A9 Brazil professional footballer Eponyms and public art Films Media Family Related Edson Arantes do Nascimento ( Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈɛtsõ aˈɾɐ̃tʃiz du nasiˈmẽtu] ; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé ( Brazilian Portuguese: [peˈlɛ] ),
2847-467: The field, his record-breaking achievements, and his legacy in the sport. Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on 23 October 1940 in Três Corações , Minas Gerais, the son of Fluminense footballer Dondinho (born João Ramos do Nascimento) and Celeste Arantes (1922–2024). He was the elder of two siblings, with brother Zoca also playing for Santos, albeit not as successfully. He was named after
2920-505: The field, the Brazilian team's record was 67 wins, 14 draws, and 11 losses. Brazil never lost a match while fielding both Pelé and Garrincha. Pelé's 77 goals (in 92 games) for Brazil saw him hold the record as the national team's top goalscorer for over fifty years until it was surpassed by Neymar (in his 125th game) in September 2023. On 19 December 1973, Pelé played for
2993-515: The final were eligible for a medal before FIFA regulations were changed in 1978 to include the entire squad, with Pelé receiving his winner's medal retroactively in 2007. Pelé was the most famous footballer in the world during the 1966 World Cup in England, and Brazil fielded some world champions like Garrincha, Gilmar and Djalma Santos with the addition of other stars like Jairzinho, Tostão and Gérson , leading to high expectations for them. Brazil
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3066-495: The first black global sporting superstar, and a source of genuine uplift and inspiration." It was in the 1958 World Cup that Pelé began wearing a jersey with the number 10, which was the result of disorganization: the leaders of the Brazilian Federation did not allocate the shirt numbers of players and it was up to FIFA to choose the number 10 shirt for Pelé, who was a substitute on the occasion. The press proclaimed Pelé
3139-442: The first half with the Cosmos, the second with Santos. The game ended with the Cosmos winning 2–1, with Pelé scoring with a 30-yard free-kick for the Cosmos in what was the final goal of his career. During the second half, it started to rain, prompting a Brazilian newspaper to come out with the headline the following day: "Even The Sky Was Crying." Pelé's first international match was a 2–1 defeat against Argentina on 7 July 1957 at
3212-399: The formation of the first match. During the game, Portugal defender João Morais fouled Pelé, but was not sent off by referee George McCabe ; a decision retrospectively viewed as being among the worst refereeing errors in World Cup history. Pelé had to stay on the field limping for the rest of the game since substitutes were not allowed in football at that time. Brazil lost the match against
3285-525: The goal, but he turned in excess as he shot, and the ball drifted just wide of the far post. "I have scored more than a thousand goals in my life and the thing people always talk to me about is the one I didn't score." — Pelé on the extraordinary save by England goalkeeper Gordon Banks in their 1970 World Cup match. Brazil played Italy in the final at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Pelé scored
3358-596: The greatest revelation of the 1958 World Cup, and he was also retroactively given the Silver Ball as the second best player of the tournament, behind Didi . Pelé also played in the South American Championship . In the 1959 competition he was named best player of the tournament and was the top scorer with eight goals, as Brazil came second despite being unbeaten in the tournament. He scored in five of Brazil's six games, including two goals against Chile and
3431-420: The history of the Maracanã". As the defending champions, Santos qualified automatically to the semi-final stage of the 1963 Copa Libertadores . The balé branco (white ballet), the nickname given to Santos at the time, managed to retain the title after victories over Botafogo and Boca Juniors . Pelé helped Santos overcome a Botafogo team that featured Brazilian greats such as Garrincha and Jairzinho with
3504-451: The latter partnered him in numerous one-two plays, attacks, and goals. After Pelé's 19th season with Santos, he left Brazilian football. Pelé's 643 goals for Santos were the most goals scored for a single club until it was surpassed by Lionel Messi of Barcelona in December 2020. Even though he never played in a European league, Pelé played exhibition games in several countries all over
3577-457: The match, 4–1. In the first half of the match against England , Pelé nearly scored with a header that was saved by the England goalkeeper Gordon Banks. Pelé recalled he was already shouting "Goal" when he headed the ball. It was often referred to as the "save of the century". In the second half, he controlled a cross from Tostão before flicking the ball to Jairzinho who scored the only goal. Against Romania , Pelé scored two goals, which included
3650-677: The most prestigious club tournament in the Western hemisphere. "I arrived hoping to stop a great man, but I went away convinced I had been undone by someone who was not born on the same planet as the rest of us." —Benfica goalkeeper Costa Pereira following the loss to Santos in 1962. Santos's most successful Copa Libertadores season started in 1962 ; the team was seeded in Group One alongside Cerro Porteño and Deportivo Municipal Bolivia, winning every match of their group but one (a 1–1 away tie versus Cerro). Santos defeated Universidad Católica in
3723-880: The name means, nor did his old friends, and the word has no meaning in Portuguese. Pelé grew up in poverty in Bauru in the state of São Paulo . He earned extra money by working in tea shops as a servant. Taught to play by his father, he could not afford a proper football and usually played with either a sock stuffed with newspaper and tied with string or a grapefruit. He played for several amateur teams in his youth, including Sete de Setembro , Canto do Rio , São Paulinho , and Ameriquinha . Pelé led Bauru Atlético Clube juniors (coached by Waldemar de Brito ) to two São Paulo state youth championships. In his mid-teens, he played for an indoor football team called Radium. Indoor football had just become popular in Bauru when Pelé began playing it. He
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#17328520781733796-407: The next stop for Pelé's tour was to Cairo , and he met again with Tharwat, who stated that she could not communicate with him as he did not speak English at the time. After the 1974 season (his 19th with Santos), Pelé retired from Brazilian club football although he continued to occasionally play for Santos in official competitive matches. A year later, he came out of semi-retirement to sign with
3869-401: The only player to do so and the youngest player to win a World Cup (17). He was nicknamed O Rei (The King) following the 1958 tournament. With 77 goals in 92 games for Brazil, Pelé held the record as the national team's top goalscorer for over fifty years. At club level, he is Santos's all-time top goalscorer with 643 goals in 659 games. In a golden era for Santos, he led the club to
3942-403: The opening goal with a header after out jumping Italian defender Tarcisio Burgnich . Brazil's 100th World Cup goal, Pelé's leap of joy into the arms of teammate Jairzinho in celebrating the goal is regarded as one of the most iconic moments in World Cup history. He then made assists for Brazil's third goal, scored by Jairzinho, and the fourth finished by Carlos Alberto. The last goal of the game
4015-445: The phrase " The Beautiful Game " with football. A prolific goalscorer, he was known for his ability to anticipate his opponents’ movements and finish off chances with an accurate and powerful shot with either foot. Pelé was also a hard-working and complete player with exceptional vision and intelligence, who was recognised for his precise passing and the ability to provide teammates with assists . In his early career, he played in
4088-450: The rest of the tournament, and forced coach Aymoré Moreira to make his only lineup change of the tournament. The substitute was Amarildo , who performed well for the rest of the tournament. However, it was Garrincha who would take the leading role and carry Brazil to their second World Cup title, after beating Czechoslovakia at the final in Santiago. At the time, only players who appeared in
4161-496: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Vava . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vava&oldid=1211076603 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
4234-481: The second game against Hungary . His coach stated that after the first game he felt "every team will take care of him in the same manner". Brazil lost that game and Pelé, although still recovering, was brought back for the last crucial match against Portugal at Goodison Park in Liverpool by the Brazilian coach Vicente Feola . Feola changed the entire defense, including the goalkeeper, while in midfield he returned to
4307-438: The semi-finals and met defending champions Peñarol in the finals. Pelé scored twice in the playoff match to secure the first title for a Brazilian club. Pelé finished as the second top scorer of the competition with four goals. That same year, Santos would successfully defend the Campeonato Paulista (with 37 goals from Pelé) and the Taça Brasil (Pelé scoring four goals in the final series against Botafogo). Santos would also win
4380-503: The spot. In addition, futsal allowed him to play with adults when he was about 14 years old. In one of the tournaments he participated in, he was initially considered too young to play, but eventually went on to end up top scorer with 14 or 15 goals. "That gave me a lot of confidence", Pelé said, "I knew then not to be afraid of whatever might come". In 1956, de Brito took Pelé to Santos , an industrial and port city located near São Paulo, to try out for professional club Santos FC , telling
4453-503: The tournament featured major changes to the 1966 squad. Players like Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Valdir Pereira, Djalma Santos, and Gilmar had already retired. However, Brazil's 1970 World Cup squad, which included players like Pelé, Rivellino , Jairzinho, Gérson, Carlos Alberto Torres, Tostão and Clodoaldo , is often considered to be the greatest football team in history. The front five of Jairzinho, Pelé, Gerson, Tostão, and Rivellino together created an attacking momentum, with Pelé having
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#17328520781734526-494: The tournament. Burgnich, who marked Pelé during the final, was quoted saying, "I told myself before the game, he's made of skin and bones just like everyone else – but I was wrong". In terms of his goals and assists throughout the 1970 World Cup, Pelé was directly responsible for 53% of Brazil's goals throughout the tournament. Pelé's last international match was on 18 July 1971 against Yugoslavia in Rio de Janeiro. With Pelé on
4599-521: The two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire in 1969 so they could watch Pelé play an exhibition game in Lagos . An early source for this story was Ebony magazine in 1975. Santos ended up playing to a 2–2 draw with Lagos side Stationary Stores FC and Pelé scored his team's goals. The civil war went on for one more year after this game. In his autobiography, Pelé
4672-554: The world in tours with Santos. He played in Spain against Real Madrid and Barcelona , in Italy against Juventus , Inter Milan , AC Milan and AS Roma . Pelé travelled to Egypt in 1973, and played with Santos against Al Ahly . This trip was days after his team's trip to Kuwait to play a match against Qadsia . In Kuwait , Pelé met by chance the Egyptian movie star Zubaida Tharwat , who
4745-411: The world. After retiring in 1977, Pelé was a worldwide ambassador for football and made many acting and commercial ventures. In 2010, he was named the honorary president of the New York Cosmos . Pelé averaged almost a goal per game throughout his career and could strike the ball with either foot, as well as being able to anticipate his opponents' movements. While predominantly a striker, he could also be
4818-530: Was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward . Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was among the most successful and popular sports figures of the 20th century. His 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, which includes friendlies , is recognised as a Guinness World Record . In 1999, he was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and
4891-410: Was compelled by the victory to weep as he was being congratulated by his teammates. He finished the tournament with six goals in four matches played, tied for second place, behind record-breaker Just Fontaine , and was named best young player of the tournament. His impact was arguably greater off the field, with Barney Ronay writing, "With nothing but talent to guide him, the boy from Minas Gerais became
4964-635: Was credited with significantly increasing public awareness and interest of the sport in the US. During his first public appearance in Boston, he was injured by a crowd of fans who had surrounded him and was evacuated on a stretcher. Pelé made his debut for the Cosmos on 15 June 1975 against the Dallas Tornado at Downing Stadium, scoring one goal in a 2–2 draw. Pelé opened the door for many other stars to play in North America. Giorgio Chinaglia followed him to
5037-526: Was eliminated in the first round, playing only three matches. The World Cup was marked, among other things, for brutal fouls on Pelé that left him injured by the Bulgarian and Portuguese defenders. Pelé scored the first goal from a free kick against Bulgaria , becoming the first player to score in three successive FIFA World Cups, but due to his injury, a result of persistent fouling by the Bulgarians, he missed
5110-566: Was in Kuwait attending a cinematic event. The two had a couple of photos and he admired her beauty. She said in a television interview about this incident that: she had traveled to Kuwait City in 1973 at the invitation of the Kuwaiti Minister of Culture at the time, and when she went to the hotel where she was going to stay, she was surprised by the presence of many people and flowers inside the hotel, and among these people came to her "Pelé" wearing
5183-663: Was included in the Time list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century . In 2000, Pelé was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century , alongside Diego Maradona . Pelé began playing for Santos at age 15 and the Brazil national team at 16. During his international career, he won three FIFA World Cups : 1958 , 1962 and 1970 ,
5256-429: Was part of the first futsal (indoor football) competition in the region. Pelé and his team won the first championship and several others. According to Pelé, futsal (indoor football) presented difficult challenges: he said it was a lot quicker than football on the grass, and that players were required to think faster because everyone is close to each other in the pitch. Pelé credits futsal for helping him think better on
5329-475: Was unsure that there was a ceasefire, but said that there was an increased security presence at the game. Some sources, including Santos's website, say that the ceasefire was instead for the friendly in Benin City , bordering Biafra. Local researchers have not found contemporary reports of any ceasefire. During his time at Santos, Pelé played alongside many gifted players, including Zito , Pepe , and Coutinho ;
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