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Pele (Edson
Arantes do Nascimento)
Born:
21st October 1940, Position: Inside Left/Inside Forward
(Noroeste,
Santos, New York Cosmos and Brazil) |
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Major
Honours: World
Cup 1958, 1970; World Club Cup 1962,1963; FIFA's Gold Medal for
Services to the Game 1982.
Relevant
Career Statistics:
91 International appearances and 78 international goals
Admitted
to the Hall of Fame:
1st May 2000 with 48% of the votes.
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Roy
of the Rovers References:
Pele
appeared in the Roy of the Rovers "Sign Please" pages in the 3rd July
1982 issue.
In response to a reader's
query, Roy dedicates the whole of the Roy of the Rovers "Talk In" feature
to Pele - 30th June 1984.
In the 26th July Roy of the
Rovers comic, Roy gave a detailed breakdown on Pele's goalscoring
achievements throughout his career. |
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Internet
Links: Below are the known web sites dedicated to Johan
Cruyff.
International
Hall of Fame- A fitting tribute to the world's
greatest player.
Pele
Ole - All the facts and figures you could want about
Pele (an unofficial site).
Pele
: Hall of Champions - Provides an excellent time
line for the career of Pele.
Top
International Stars in the NASL (Player Biographies P to Z) Statistics
from Pele's time in the NASL.
World
Cup Tribute - A World Cup profile of Pele by Soccernet
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Books:
The
Beautiful Team: In search of Pele and the 1970 Brazilians Garry
Jenkins. A fitting tribute to the great 1970's side.
Click on the cover to order. |
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Whereas Roy of the Rovers has
been described as the greatest player who never existed, Pele surely has
the accolade of the Greatest Player who did exist. He was the ultimate
footballer.
An outstanding prospect even
as a child. His first coach was his father Dondinho, who had been a useful
player in the 1940's but whose career was cut short by injury. Legend has
it that he learned the fundamentals of the game in the back streets of
Brazil, with balls made of old rags, stuffed in socks. Pele played for
local side Noroeste but was soon transferred to Santos and was a Brazilian
International by the age of 16.
He graced the World Cup a year
later in 1958, scoring a hat-trick in the semi-final against France and
grabbing two in the Final against hosts Sweden. He played just the first
round match in 1962 before pulling a muscle and missing the remaining
games. In the 1966 Finals Pele was the victim of brutal fouls by players
from Bulgaria and Portugal and Pele vowed never to play in the World Cup
again. Luckily by 1970 he had changed his mind and they will always be
remembered as the pinochle of Pele's career, the perfect showcase for his
talent as Brazil won the World Cup again. Pele scored four goals including
the first one in the final.
Santos in the early days were
not slow to recognise the talent they had at their disposal. The directors
created a circus touring the world playing two or three times a week. This
gave additional revenue to enable a "supporting cast" to be
bought and turn Santos into World Club Champions in 1962 and 1963. In
1969, Pele scored his 1000th goal while playing for Santos against Vasco
da Gama in the Maracana stadium.
Pele set the North American
Soccer League alight in the 1970's playing for New York Cosmos. His
involvement surely establishing football as a grass roots sport in the
United States.
In the late 1990's he accepted
an appointment as Brazil's Sports Minister. In the teeth of fierce
opposition he drove through the so called "Pele Law" which
promised to reform the hitherto chaotic organisation of Brazilian
football.
On 11th December 2000 Pele is
quite rightly named as footballer of the century by FIFA's grand jury.
Even though he achieved fame
and fortune he did not lose his innate sense of sportsmanship and the
respect of team mates and opponents alike - a welcome member of the Roy of
the Rovers Hall of Fame.
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