Pele
Pele
Edson Arantes do Nascimentoɐˈɾɐ̃tʃiz du nɐsiˈmẽtu]; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé, is a retired Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward. He is widely regarded as the greatest player of all time. Pelé is also credited with making the phrase "the beautiful game" synonymous with football. In 1999, he was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics. The same year, France Football asked their former Ballon d'Or winners to...
NationalityBrazilian
ProfessionSoccer Player
Date of Birth23 October 1940
CityTres Coracoes, Brazil
CountryBrazil
We're not great friends, but I admire him. If he thinks he's the best player of the century, that's his problem.
Great genetics are not necessarily a precursor for success in the game. Brazilian Legend Pelé has often said that soccer stars are not born. Without proper soccer training a player will never reach his full potential. It is true that great speed would benefit someone who plays as a winger but would not be as useful for a goalkeeper. The greatest advantage of soccer is that it is not as discriminating as basketball or volleyball. There are no limitations when it comes to physique and it all comes down to individual soccer skills.
His left foot is fantastic. It's like Mozart. God gave Freddy the gift to play soccer. If he is prepared mentally and physically, nobody will stop him. (on Freddy Adu)
Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string.
Brazil, always they buy from the United States. The first who was sell to the United States was football.
When I was playing, they said soccer was a man's world and women should remain on the sidelines, all I can say is I'm glad I never had to go up against Mia Hamm
When football stars disappear, so do the teams, and that is a very curious phenomenon. It is like in the theatre, in a play, where there is a great star. If the star is not well, the whole cast suffers.
Everybody knows my life. I won a lot of tournaments and scored more than 1,000 goals, won three World Cups but I could not play in Olympic Games.
I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'born' soccer player. Perhaps you are born with certain skills and talents, but quite frankly it seems impossible to me that one is actually born to be an ace soccer player
I always had a philosophy which I got from my father. He used to say, 'Listen. God gave to you the gift to play football. This is your gift from God. If you take care of your health, if you are in good shape all the time, with your gift from God no one will stop you, but you must be prepared.'
He is the greatest player in the world right now, without a doubt, he is the player who gives Brazilians the most joy. (on Ronaldinho)
For 20 years they have asked me the same question, who is the greatest? Pele or Maradona? I replay that all you have to do is look at the facts - how many goals did he score with his right foot or with his head?
The biggest family in the world is football, because football has more associate - and FIFA, for example - has more associates than UNESCO.
Another reason why I am always close to the people, because the communication is very important. When I stopped to play soccer I continued to... I continued to work with UNICEF. I did a lot of work with UNESCO. We did a lot of charity programme and games.