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Birth
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pele to most of the world, was born on the 23rd of October in 1940 in Tês Corações, Brazil to parent's João Ramos "Dondinho" (footballer) and Celeste Arantes. -
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Growing up in Poverty
Pelé and his family spent his childhood in poverty as his father struggled to earn a living as a footballer. To earn money for his family and for a football, Pelé skipped school many times to polish shoes. -
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Learning to play Football
Pelé was taught to play football by his father as a young child. But, his father couldn't afford to buy a football for Pelé therefore he learnt to play with a sock stuffed with newspaper tied with string or a grapefruit. -
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'Pelé' was a nickname
He recieved the nickname 'Pelé' in school where his peers began to call him that due to the way he pronounced the name of his favorite player, local Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Bilé. But the more he complained about the nickname, the more it stuck. Pelé and his old peers have no idea what the nickname means in Portugese (their language), but in Hebrew, the word means "miracle". -
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Winning with Youth Team
In his early teenage years, Pelé played for Bauru Athletic Club Juniors, which was coached by Waldemar de Brito, to three consecutive São Paulo state youth championships between 1954 and 1956. -
Listening to the advice of Waldemar de Brito
Pelé performed very poorly in school but was a rising star in football. He attracted many scouts and the interest of many clubs, but due to the advice of Waldemar de Brito, he opted to try out for Santos C.F. Waldemar de Brito told the club; “This boy will become the greatest football player in the world.” Pele impressed the manager at the time, Lula, and signed his first professional contract at the age of 15 in June 1956. -
Debut for Santos CF
On the 7 September, 1956, Pele made his professional debut, aged 15, against Corinthians Santo Andre. He had an impressive performance in the 7-1 victory, in which Pele scored his first professional goal. -
First Professional Season
After Pele’s first season (1956-1957), a very successful season, Pele scored 36 goals in 29 matches for Santos in the Brazilian league. -
Winning the 1958 World Cup with Brazil
Pele’s outstanding first seasons earned him a place in the 1958 Brazilian world cup team. He didn’t play in the first two games due to a knee injury but in the final match of the group stage, he made his international debut against the Soviet Union. After failing to score in that game, he scored the only goal vs Wales in the quarter final, his first international hat-trick in the semi-final vs France and two more goals in the final vs Sweden.
