Biography
Real Name	Edson Arantes do Nascimento
Nickname(s)	Dico, Pele, The Black Pearl
Profession	Professional Footballer (Retired), Humanitarian
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters– 173 cm in meters– 1.73 m in feet inches– 5’ 8”
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms– 75 kg in pounds– 165 lbs
Eye Color	Black
Hair Color	Black
Football
Debut	International– On July 7, 1957 for Brazil against Argentina Club– On September 7, 1956 for Santos against Corinthians Santo Andre
Jersey Number	#10 (Brazil) #10 (Santos)
Coach/Mentor	Vicente Feola (Brazil), João Ramos
Retirement	1977
Position	Forward
Records	• Brazil national football team All-Time Leading Scorer, 77 goals (95 goals including unofficial friendlies) • Intercontinental Cup: All-Time Leading Scorer: 7 goals • World record number of hat-trick: 92 • Most career goals: 1283 goals in 1363 games (Guinness World Records) • Most FIFA World Cup Winners’ Medals: 3 (Guinness World Records) • Youngest winner of a FIFA World Cup: 17 years and 249 days (Guinness World Records)
Awards, Honors, Achievements	International • FIFA World Cup : 1958, 1962, 1970 • Roca Cup : 1957, 1963 Club Santos • Campeonato Paulista : 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973 • Campeonato Brasileiro Série A : 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 • Intercontinental Cup : 1962, 1963 • Intercontinental Supercup: 1968 New York Cosmos • North American Soccer League, Soccer Bowl: 1977 Individual • Copa Libertadores Top Scorer: 1965 • Campeonato Paulista Top Scorer : 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1973 • FIFA World Cup Best Young Player: 1958 • FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (Best Player): 1970 • Copa América Top Scorer: 1959 • FIFA Player of the Century: 2000 • FIFA Order of Merit: 1984 • FIFA Centennial Award: 2004 • FIFA 100 Greatest Living Footballers: 2004 • Athlete of the Century, elected by International Olympic Committee: 1999 • South American Footballer of the Year: 1973 • FWA Tribute Award: 2018 • World Team of the 20th Century: 1998
Personal Life
Date of Birth	October 23, 1940
Died	29 December 2022
Birthplace	Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Zodiac sign/Sun sign	Libra
Signature
Nationality	Brazilian
Hometown	Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil
School	Not Known
College/University	Did Not Attend
Educational Qualification	Not Known
Religion	Christianity
Ethnicity	Afro-Brazilian
Food Habit	Non-Vegetarian
Hobbies	Fishing, Writing Songs, Cooking, Playing the Guitar
Controversy	Pele got a lot of hatred from the Brazilians when before FIFA World Cup 2014, he said that corruption had nothing to do with World Cup and people should stop protesting for a better country. He even went on to say that Brazilians were ruining the World Cup.
Girls, Affairs & More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Rosemeri Dos Reis Cholbi (1958-1966) Anizia Machado (1963-1964) Flavia Cavalcanti Rebelo (Model) Lenita Kurtz (1968) Journalist Xuxa (1981-1986) TV Presenter
Family
Wife/Spouse	Rosemeri Dos Reis Cholbi (1966–1982) Assíria Lemos Seixas (1994–2008) Psychologist Marcia Aoki (2016-Present) Businesswoman
Children	Sons– Edinho (Professional Footballer) Joshua Daughters– Sandra Machado Kelly Cristina Flávia Kurtz Celeste
Parents	Father– João Ramos (Professional Footballer) Mother– Dona Celeste (Actress)
Siblings	Brother– Zeca Nascimento (Professional Footballer) Sister– Maria Lúcia Nascimento
Favorite Things
Favorite Sportsperson	Muhammad Ali
Favorite Place	Santos, Brazil
Favorite Food	Rice and beans
Style Quotient
Cars Collection	Mercedes 1970, Mercedes-Benz W111, Red 1957 Porsche 356, Volkswagen
Money Factor
Net Worth (approx.)	$100 Million (₹680 Crore)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Pele

• Does Pele smoke?: No

• Does Pele drink alcohol?: No

• He was born to Dondinho and Dona Celeste Arantes. His father was a soccer player himself.

• He was named after American inventor Thomas Edison. 

• They were very poor and he had to work as a servant in a tea stall in his childhood.

• He was nicknamed as “Dico”, but his friends started calling him Pele after his favorite footballer Vasco da Gama’s goalkeeper ‘Bile’, whom he mispronounced as ‘Pele’. 

• He learned the first kicks of soccer from his father and played for many amateur teams in his youth. With no money to buy a football, he used to stuff newspapers inside socks and play with them.

• He joined Bauru Athletic Club juniors and led his team to three consecutive titles from 1954 to 1956. 

• He said in an interview that the indoor tournaments he used to play in his childhood helped him to take his game to another level. The indoor tournaments taught him to make quick decisions; as the pitches were small and the players were more.

• Football star de Brito was impressed by his talents and took him to Santos in 1956, where he started his professional football career. He became a regular starter for the side in 1957.

• He became the top scorer in the league in 1957. His consistent performances earned him a place in Brazil’s squad, and he played his first game for Brazil in July 1957 against Argentina.

• In 1958, he scored 58 goals for Santos in Campeonato Paulista (a top-flight league in Brazil), a feat unmatched till date.  

• He scored 6 goals in 4 matches in the 1958 World Cup and eventually won the World Cup.
• In the 1962 World Cup, his campaign was halted with an injury and he remained out of the most of the tournament.
• In 1964, he was involved in an affair with a housemaid, Anizia Machado who gave birth to Sandra Machado. Sandra fought for years to be acknowledged by Pele as his daughter, but he refused to submit his DNA. Although the court recognized her as his biological daughter based on the DNA evidence in 1993. Though Pele never acknowledged her as his daughter, even after her death in 2006.

• On February 21, 1966, Pelé married Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi and had two daughters and a son with her.

• The 1966 World Cup was a big failure; as he got injured and Brazil got knocked out in the first round. 

• In 1968, he had another extramarital affair with journalist Lenita Kurtz and had a daughter, Flávia, with her.

• He scored his 1000th goal against Vasco da Gama from a penalty kick at the Maracana Stadium in 1969.

• The 1970 World Cup was his last World Cup. Brazil won the World Cup, and he was named the ‘Player of the Tournament’.

  He played his last international match against Yugoslavia on July 18, 1971, in Rio de Janeiro.

• His 19th season in 1974 was his last season for the club Santos before retiring. 

• In 1976, he emerged from the semi-retirement by joining New York Cosmos.
• In his last game on October 1, 1977 (an exhibition match between Cosmos and Santos), he played the first half for Cosmos and the second half for Santos. He scored from a direct free kick in the first half which turned out to be his last goal.
• In 1982, Pele and his wife, Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi, divorced. Pele was then involved in a romantic relationship with a TV presenter Xuxa. She was just 17 at that time.
• In 1992, he was appointed as a UN ambassador for ecology and the environment.

  In April 1994, he married psychologist and gospel singer Assíria Lemos Seixas and had twins with her. The couple divorced in 2008.

• In 1995, he was appointed as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

• He was the Minister of Sport of Brazil from 1995 to 1998.

• In 1997, he received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace. 

• He was voted “Athlete of the Century” by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1999.

• In July 2016, he married Marcia Aoki, a Japanese-Brazilian importer of medical equipment from Penápolis, São Paulo. 

• He scored 1281 goals in 1363 games, the most by any player ever to play this game. He scored 92 hat-tricks, and scored four goals on 31 occasions, five on six occasions, and once scored eight in one match.