Pelé

Pelé project by jordan tucker

A STORY ABOUT THE SOCCER LEGEND

CHILDHOOD

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, or more commonly known by his nickname, Pelé, was born in Tres Coraçoes, Brazil on Octover 23, 1940. His origional nickname was Dico. His father was an incredable soccer played, but early in his career injured his knee. His father got a spot on a team in a small club in Bauru, where Pelé spent the rest of his normal childhood. His family was very poor, his father worked 2 jobs and Pelé worked as a shoemaker. When Pelé was 13, he joined the Bauru team, like his father.

SANTOS

After Pelé had rejected an offer to join the club Bangú at age 15 because he would be alone in the city. Soon after, he decided to try and play for the Santos, south of São Paulo. At this time, Pelé was still 15, and leaving his home. He often got homesick, but eventually got used to being away from home. Pelé played a little for the juniors part of the club, but ended up mainly playing professional because of his talent.

WORLD CUP

At age 17, Pelé got chosen to play in his first world cup in Sweden representing Brazil. Little did Pelé know that the fame he would be getting from this world cup would change his life forever. He started in the third game, against the Soviet Union. After that game, Pelé started every game in that world cup. In the final against Sweden, who was the home team, he scored 2 goals helping his team win a 5-2 victory in the 1958 world cup.

ROSEMARI

After the world cup, Pelé returned home to the Santos. Pelé was going to one of the clubs other sports team's game, and he met Rosemari. He and Rosemari got married in 1966, and had 2 kids, Kelly and Edson.

LAST WORLD CUP

After Pelé had lead Brazil to being two world cup champions, he decided it was time to let go and leave the Brazilian national team. In his last world cup in 1970, Brazil took home one more win, and since it was their third, they got to keep the trophy. In his 14 world cup games, he scored 12 goals. In this final game Pelé scored his last world cup goal, helping his team win a 4-1 victory against Italy.

PELE LEAVES SOCCER

Pelé decided to leave the Santos in 1973 to become a normal buisnessman. He decided to quit soccer and stay home with Rosemari and their 2 kids. But soon after, he made a finantial mistake and was in a debt over 2 million dollars. Pelé knew that his job wouldn't cover his debt, and decided to go back to soccer to repay it.

NEW YORK COSMOS

At the World Cup, Pelé met a man named Clive Toye, a millionare who had just invested in a team called the New York Cosmos in the US. Pelé could play for any team in the world, but there were a couple of things that stood out to him about the Cosmos. He would get more money than he would have imagined existed as a young boy, and he could spread the game he loved to a new country. Pelé had the important decision on choosing to play for the Cosmos or not, but when he was offered a between 2 million and 7 million dollar contract, the decision was pretty easy. He played from 1974-1977 on the team, spread soccer in the United States, and went on many world tours with the Cosmos.

PELE'S FINAL GAME

After a few years for the Cosmos, Pelé's contract was coming to an end. His final game was against his former club, the Santos. In this game, Pelé played the first half for the Cosmos and the second half for the Santos. Pelé scored his last career goal on a penalty kick for the Cosmos. After the game, he ran around the stadium in tears and was carried on his teamates sholders (from both the Cosmos and the Santos). Pelé held two flags, the Brazilian and American flags. From that day on, October 1 will be remembered by many soccer fans around the world as the day Pelé's long journey came to an end.

PELE NOW

After soccer, Pelé got named as Brazil's minister of sports, and created many laws to help Brazilian soccer players. Pelé and Rosemari divorced, and since Pelé has remarried twice, and had 2 more kids. In the year 2000, Pelé easily got voted the FIFA player of the century. Ever since, Pelé has contined trying to help the rights of soccer players, and has vigorously tried to improve Brazil by doing charity work.