Brazilian football icon Pele dies at the age of 82
Brazilian football icon Pele died at the age of 82. He was a legend who won three World Cups as a player and another seven with Brazil's national team. He was also the only footballer to be elected to Italy's Hall of Fame, France’s Legion d'honneur and the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in recognition for his on-field performances as well as his charitable work off it, which culminated in his Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004. He was regarded as the greatest footballer who ever lived by FIFA and the sport's other governing bodies, and is considered among the best players of all time.
Pele was born in Tres Coracoes, Brazil on 23 October 1940. His parents were named Dulce and Gelia, who raised him along with his 11 siblings in poverty. By the age of 15 he already started showing his footballing ability. At that age he switched from playing with street kids to a local club called Bauru Athletic Club. A year later he was spotted by a talent scout from Brazil's then most successful team Botafogo FC, who signed him on as a professional at 16 years old. During the ensuing years Pele proved to be a prolific scorer, which made him a vital member of the Brazil squad that won its first World Cup title in 1958. However, he was not always happy with the team's coach and left Botafogo in 1961 after scoring a whopping 681 goals for them. His new club Santos FC would go on to win four titles during his time there. In total he scored a record 1,281 goals in 1,363 games throughout his career. He was also so well-liked by fans that they named him O Rei do Futebol (The King of Football), which became one of the most famous nicknames ever given to any sportsperson.
Pele won the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1965, 1967 and 1968. He was also awarded their Golden Ball award for player of the tournament once, in the 1970 World Cup. In recognition of his feats, in 1970 he was inducted to the Brazilian Football Federation's Hall of Fame and seven years later became one of only three players to enter the French Football Federation's hall as well. In 1976 he was awarded France's highest sports honour, the Legion d'honneur as well. In 1993 he became the first footballer ever to receive the FIFA Order of Merit, which also made him the first to receive this honour who was not a European or South American. In 1995 he came seventh in the FIFA Player of the Century grand jury vote, was runner-up behind Pelé in the FIFA World Player of the Century public vote, and in 2002 was named in the FIFA 100 list of history's greatest living players, which honoured his and Pelé's contributions to football.
Pele is a member of both Guinness World Records and International Federation of Football History & Statistics' exclusive Hall of Fame for players.
The Brazilian retired from professional football in 1977 after playing for New York Cosmos and still holds many footballing records. However, while he was still active, Pele was also busy with coaching his country's junior teams and eventually became Brazil's national team manager in 1978. Throughout the 1980s he stayed on as a coach in Brazil. He even managed the New York Cosmos once more during his last years in professional football.
In 1992 Pele was appointed as FIFA's director of the international department for their charity work, which eventually led to him being named as President of FIFA in 1998 by Sepp Blatter. As well as that, he continued to be a player for Santos FC until his last season in 2001 when he retired from football entirely at the age of 55.