PELĖ - THE ICONIC SPORTSMAN

 PELĖ - THE ICONIC SPORTSMAN


Image Credit: Original Photographer as in Google

Born as Edson Arantes do Nascimento and popularly known as Pelé, he is a retired Brazilian professional footballer. Widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all times, Pelé is one of the most successful and admired sports personality of the 20th century.

In 1999, Pelé was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century award. That same year, Pelé was elected Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and was included in the Time list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. According to the IFFHS, Pelé is the most successful top division scorer of all times with 541 goals in 560 games. His total of 1286 goals in 1363 games, including friendly matches, is a Guinness World Record.

Pelé began playing for Santos Club at age 15 and the Brazil National Team at 16. During his international career, he won three FIFA World Cups: 1958, 1962 and 1970, being the only player ever to do so. Pelé is the all-time leading goalscorer for Brazil with 77 goals in 92 games. At club level he is Santos' all-time top goalscorer, and led them to the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores. Known for connecting the phrase "The Beautiful Game" with football, Pelé's "electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals" made him a star around the world, and his teams toured internationally in order to take full advantage of his popularity. Since retiring in 1977, Pelé has been a worldwide ambassador for football and has made many acting and commercial ventures. In 2010, he was named the Honorary President of the New York Cosmos.

Pelé was adept at striking the ball with either foot in addition to anticipating his opponents' movements on the field far in advance. While predominantly a striker, he could also go down deep and take a game-making role, providing assists with his vision and passing ability and he would also use his dribbling skills incredibly to go past opponents. Not only that, it is he who invented the unbelievable Bicycle Back Volley.

Even after retiring, Pelé continues to be worshiped by all players, coaches, journalists and anybody associated with the game of soccer. In my own opinion, this debate about the Player of the Century is pretty absurd. I believe, Pelé is the greatest player of all times to come. He is the Monarch of Football.

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