| For us younger folks, Brazil soccer is great because | | | | goal, becoming top scorer in almost all of these |
| that's how it's meant to be...we take that as a natural | | | | tournaments. At the tender age of 15, he caught the |
| order of things, having grown up with the Brazilian | | | | eyes of one of the biggest teams in Brazil, FC |
| soccer team's successes in the World Cups of the | | | | Santos, who offered him a contract and by 16 he |
| 1990s. But the myth of Brazilian soccer was born a | | | | was already a member of the senior squad. He spent |
| lot earlier, in times when soccer started to become a | | | | almost his entire career at Santos, since European |
| worldwide "plague" and there are a lot of people who | | | | transfers weren't that popular back, although the final |
| attribute this internalization of soccer to the Brazilian | | | | 2 years of his career were spent at New York |
| team of the 50s, a team that was lead to success | | | | Cosmos, before Pele finally hanged his boots. Pele |
| by one of the most preeminent figures in sports, the | | | | made his debut in the Brazilian soccer team in the |
| famous soccer player Pele. Born Edson Arantes do | | | | same year he debuted at Santos' senior squad, when |
| Nascimento, Pele climbed a steep mountain from living | | | | he was just 16 years old. Amazingly, he was taken |
| his youth in a poor Brazilian family, to becoming one | | | | on to the 1958 World Cup squad, at age 17, |
| of the most beloved figures in the modern history of | | | | becoming the youngest player in the competition. He |
| sports. His father was a footballer himself, playing for | | | | even scored a crucial goal in the quarterfinals against |
| Fluminense in the Brazilian league and it was only | | | | Wales, a goal which took Brazil past that stage and |
| natural that young Pele would follow his father's | | | | into the semis. But Pele was saving the best for the |
| footsteps in the game. He wasn't always known as | | | | final: meeting Sweden, he scored a magnificent goal, |
| Pele though. Rumor has it that this nickname was | | | | lobbing the ball past a defender and volleying it into |
| given to him in primary school, as he kept misspelling | | | | the net, eventually winning the final for Brazil. After |
| the name of one of his favorite players at that time, | | | | the match ended, the effort and the joy bundled up |
| Vasco Da Gama's goalkeeper Bile. His schoolmates | | | | and the 17-year old Pele couldn't take it, passing out |
| gave him this new nickname and mostly made fun of | | | | on the field and needing medical attention. As a |
| him, so he obviously disliked it; so much that he | | | | soccer player, Pele attended 3 more World Cups, |
| punched the fellow classmate that coined the | | | | between 1962 and 1970, winning the first and latter. |
| nicknamed. However, in time, he gradually became | | | | He was the first player ever to score in 4 different |
| used to it and even started liking it and it wasn't long | | | | World Cups and in 1970 he achieved a unique |
| before everyone knew the soccer wonderkid as | | | | performance that boosted him to the heights of |
| Pele. Living in poverty, he couldn't afford soccer | | | | international soccer: he scored 1,000 official goals for |
| equipment, nor a soccer ball. He shined shoes for an | | | | club and country. Although many dispute this record |
| extra coin that would help him and his friends stitch | | | | or try to bring it down, saying that soccer wasn't as |
| up a newspaper-filled sock to use as a football. He | | | | defensive or tactical back than as it is today (which is |
| formed a team with his neighbors from the Sete de | | | | partially true), his merit of being a major stand pole |
| Setembro street and even participated in a youth | | | | on the international soccer stage between the mid |
| tournament, where the team earned the nickname | | | | 50s all the way to the late 70s should not be |
| "the shoeless ones" because none of the kids could | | | | undermined. Named best soccer player in the World |
| afford to waste their walking shoes (if any) on | | | | and athlete of the 20th century, Pele now acts as an |
| playing soccer. A few years later, each member of | | | | ambassador for soccer and fair play. |
| the team worked hard for the extra money to get a | | | | Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer |
| proper pair of shoes and renamed their team to | | | | Fans website that provides information on various |
| Ameriquinha. Participating in numerous youth | | | | topics related to soccer such as famous soccer |
| tournaments with Ameriquinha, Pele made a name for | | | | players. |
| himself at a tender age for his prowess in front of | | | | |