A year ago, on December 29, 2022, the legendary Edson Arantes to Nascimento Pele died at the age of 82 in a São Paulo hospital.

>> Pele vs. Maradona / Eternal rivalry beyond the round ball

>> “O milésimo”, or the story of Pele’s 1000th goal

>> Pele: Three marriages, seven children and life in a soap opera

In 2021, Pele, known as “The King”, was diagnosed with colon cancer.

He is the only player in the history of football who won the World Cup three times (in 1958, 1962 and 1970 editions).

He is also the youngest footballer to lift the World Cup trophy at just 17 years old.

To know about the legendary Pele

The King, as he was called, was born on October 23, 1940 in Tres Coraques, Minas Gerais, Brazil. A three-time world champion with the Selacao (Sweden 1958, Chile 1962 and Mexico 1970), Pele will forever be remembered for his goals, titles and impressive career.

November 19, 1969 will remain a reference date in world football, when Pele managed to score the 1,000th goal for Santos against Vasco da Gama.

Pele’s career began very early, he made his debut at the age of 15 for Santos. On September 7, 1956, against Cubatao, a match in which he scored a goal.

Less than a year after his debut, Pele first wore the jersey of the Brazilian national team in a match against Argentina at Maracana on July 7, 1957, also scoring a goal, writes Marca.

The debut at the World Championship took place in 1958 in Sweden. He was not yet 18 and coach Vicente Feola believed in him.

From this begins the legend of Pele, who became the youngest player to lift the World Cup trophy. In the final, the Brazilians prevailed over the hosts with a score of 5:2, and the young Brazilian scored a double.

In the following years, Pele became even better. He scored 127 goals in 1959, 110 in 1961 and led Santos to two consecutive Copa Libertadores triumphs in 1962 and 1963, which were complemented by victories in the Intercontinental Cup, writes News.ro.

At the 1962 World Cup in Chile, Pele was ready to hit the planet again, but was injured in the second match, against Czechoslovakia, and could not play again.

He watched his teammates win the tournament from the sidelines. The same fate befell him in 1966 in England.

Edson Arantes, before Nascimento, had to wait until the 1970 World Cup in Mexico to remind the world of his talents.

At the first edition of the World Cup, which was broadcast on color television, Pele shone, he was helped by his colleagues Jairzinho, Tostao, Rivelino, Gerson, Carlos Alberto.

At the 1970 World Cup, Brazil played in the same group as Romania, and the Brazilians defeated the tricolors with a score of 3:2. Among the scorers was Pele, who scored twice.

Pele was the one to score Brazil’s 100th World Cup goal in the 4-1 final against Italy. It was a head shot.

“It was a special feeling to score with a header. My father once scored five goals with a header in one game, a record that I could not break,” said Pele. It was his 12th goal in 14 World Cup matches.

During his career, Pele set many records. His 1,000th goal, from the penalty spot, was scored in front of a frenzied crowd in 1969 at the Maracana Stadium.

He scored five goals in a match six times and made 92 hat-tricks. In a match with Botafogo in 1964, he scored eight goals. In total, Pele scored 1281 goals in 1363 matches.

Pele retired from Brazilian football in 1974, and a year later decided to play for the New York Cosmos to show the American public “world football”. In 1977, he stopped playing football.

After the end of his football career, Pele used his status as an ambassador to promote his country, the United Nations and UNICEF.