Double in the 1958 World Cup final
Pelé, 17, has been included in Brazil’s World Cup squad in Sweden after a fantastic first season with Santos. Pele, who played 38 matches and scored 41 goals in official matches for his club, also attracted the attention of the national team coaches.
The Brazilian striker did not come to the world championship in the best way, starting from the bench due to injury. Pelé played his first match in the group stage against the USSR team, which the South Americans won 2-0.
A full-fledged young football player showed himself at the playoff stage: a winning goal against Wales in the quarter-finals, a hat-trick against the French in the semi-finals and a double (with a winning goal) Sweden – Pelé in this way brought his country its first world title.
The Brazilians will be able to repeat the success four years later, and 12 years later, in 1970, Pele will be the only football player in the world to win the World Cup three times over his head.
World’s highest paid football player
Pele spent the last years of his professional career away from his homeland – in 1975, the Brazilian signed a professional contract with the New York Cosmos and had the opportunity to earn $ 1.4 million a year, which made him the highest paid person by a wide margin. player of that time.
The performances of the American club made it possible to bring football in the USA to a new level – if before the arrival of Pele the attendance of the New York Cosmos was on average 4-5 thousand spectators, then for the club during their performance it increased tenfold /
In 1977, Pele became the best player in the North American Football League (NASL) and went to his farewell game on October 1. In it, “Cosmos” fought with “Santos”, Pele played half and half for each team.
“I am happy to share this best moment of my life with you. I believe love is the most important thing in life. If you agree with me, repeat this word,” said Pele at the end of his last game.
In total, Pele played 107 games for the New York team and scored 64 goals.
Did Pele score 1283 career goals?
The main legend in Pele’s career is the record for the total number of goals scored during his career. The footballer believes that during his career he scored a total of 1283 goals – he wrote about this on his Twitter page in September 2015. This number includes the Brazilian’s goals scored in official and friendly matches for Santos, New York Cosmos and other football teams.
However, the method of counting other organizations gives completely different results. In other words, according to IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics), which does not take into account the friendly and exhibition matches, Pele scored 765 goals.
Portal Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) believes that the three-time world champion has scored 778 goals in official meetings? Approved by the International Football Federation (FIFA) and the International Olympic Committee, Pele counted 757 goals in his career.
Former Moscow football player and coach Spartak Valery Gladilin said in an interview with a socialbites.ca correspondent that Pele should take all matches into account when counting goals scored.
Brazilians count all goals scored in both official matches and friendlies.
Now the counting is done in the same way, with leading scorers Messi and Ronaldo also taking into account all goals scored. That’s why I think all Pele’s balls should be taken into account.
It’s hard to understand how FIFA keeps statistics and how they did it before. But in any case, Pele’s track record is unique, it must be recognized, ”said Gladilin.
friendship with Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona and Pele are rightfully considered one of the most talented football players in the history of the game. The total list of career achievements of these players is incredible, and their individual performances later fell in love with many who were interested in football.
Although Maradona and Pele did not meet on the football field, they did manage to play the ball together once. It happened on the set of the show Noche del 10, where he invited his old friend from Argentina.
“I’ve always dreamed of kicking the ball with you,” admitted Maradona Pele. After Diego’s death, Pele left a touching message on social networks:
“I lost a good friend and the world lost a legend. Many things can be talked about, but I ask God to give strength to his family. “I hope one day we can play football together in heaven,” said Pele.
Political career
In 1995, Pelé became Brazilian Minister of Sports. The main achievement of work in this post was an anti-corruption law aimed at making football in the country more transparent and fair.
According to Pele, football clubs should receive enterprise status and players should have the same rights as ordinary workers. Pele also wanted to avoid corruption when enrolling children in sports clubs and sections.
Enthusiasts welcomed Pele’s initiative, but in fact, sports clubs have grown stronger, making football even more difficult than before for children from poor families. And the then head of FIFA, Joao Havelange, threatened to expel Brazil from the organization, since according to its charter, state interference in the work of national football federations was unacceptable.
Pele Cafe
Pele gained popularity in the USSR not only thanks to his outstanding football game, but also thanks to the coffee brand of the same name. Café Pele appeared on the shelves of Soviet stores in the early 90s and became the first affordable coffee drink. In January 1997 and September 2003, the “King of Football” personally came to Russia to popularize his drink.
Cooperation with the company Cacique, acting as the creator of Café Pele, brought the actor incredible money. Pele received more than $70 million from rights to use his surname and image in the media.
Corruption scandals
In the 1990s, Pele became the ambassador of two of the largest charities – UNESCO Goodwill and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). In 2001, the Brazilian received his first accusation of money fraud – a company affiliated with Pelé allegedly failed to return the money for a charity match in 1995 that was supposed to be held with UNICEF support.
Pele promised to fully understand this when he closed the company Pele Sports & Marketing, which took the responsibility of organizing the game. Pele later came forward, suspecting that his longtime business partner, Julio Viana, had stolen $10 million from Pele Sports & Marketing, including UNICEF money.
Subsequently, all charges against Pele were dropped, followed by continued cooperation with UNESCO and UNICEF as an ambassador.