FOOTBALL LEGENDS

Edison Arantes do Nascimento or better known as Pele was born on 23th October 1940.He is a retired Brazilian football player.He is widely regarded by the fans,football experts and players as the greatest footballer of all time.He was spotted by football star Waldemar de Brito and he began playing for Santos at 15.Pele made his debut for the Brazilian national team at age 16 and he won his first World Cup at 17 scoring 6 goals.He was the only player to have three world cup winning medals.

He played for Santos alongside many gifted players,including Zito,Pepe and Coutinho.Pele made his debut for Santos in 7 September 1956 scoring a goal against Corinthians.He was given a starting place when the 1957 season started and he became the league's youngest top scorer at the age 16.Ten months after signing professionally,he was called up to the Brazilian national team and after the 1962 world cup many european giants tried to sign him but the Brazil government declared Pele as an 'official national treasure' to prevent him from being transferred out of country.

He played for the New York Cosmos for a short while after he came out of semi-retirement.He played his last game against his old team Santos at Giants Stadium.He played the first half for Cosmos and second half for Santos.After the match,he ran around the stadium holding the American flag in his left hand and Brazilian flag in his right hand.He scored his 1000th goal against Vasco da Gama on 19 November 1969.He scored from a penalty kick at Maracana Stadium,the largest stadium in the world.