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Who is the greatest soccer player ever to have lived? Okay, maybe that’s a controversial question– great players crop up every year. But if you look at who all of the great soccer players are compared to, you’ll find Pelé’s name appearing over and over. Who the heck is Pelé, anyway? The Sunday Times, a London Paper put it this way, “How do you spell Pelé? G-O-D.”

Pelé was named Edson Arantes do Naciemento upon his birth on October 23, 1940. He was born in a small town in Brazil called Tres Coracoes to parents of African heritage. In his small village, almost every child played soccer– also called futebol. Though they did not have wide, green, grassy fields on which to play, nor uniforms, nor even legitimate soccer balls to kick, Brazilian children learned to hone their skills for the sheer love of the game. PelT learned to play soccer from his father, a professional futebol player named Joao Ramos do Nascimento. That’s how former Brazilian World Cup Player Waldermir de Brito saw young Pelé in action– after watching the eleven-year-old boy play on his team called the Ameriquinha. The team did not even have its own coach– yet young Pelé’s skills were so outstanding, that De Brito invited the boy to play on his own team. When PelT was 15, in 1956, De Brito took him to Sao Paulo, Brazil– one of South America’s grandest cities– to try out for a professional futebol club called Santos Futebol Clube. And though young Pelé was amazed by the big city, this small-town kid astounded his soon-to-be-teammates. In fact, that day, De Brito prophesized that “This boy will be the greatest soccer player in the world.”

Not too long after this introduction, Pelé had a chance to play in a game for the Santos club in place of the center forward, Del Vecchio. It was the 36th minute of the game when the 15-year-old entered the game. He was playing strong offense, in the goalie box, surrounded by defenders. When he took the shot on goal, the ball went under the goalkeeper’s legs, and history was made. The soon-to-be soccer god scored the first of many, many goals. He had scored goal number six for the Santos club, and helped them win the 7-1 match.

Soon Pelé was proving himself to be a worthy offensive player, and was invited to take part of the starting line-up of the professional team the very next season. By the time he graduated from the Sao Paulo state league, he had become the leading scorer with 32 goals.

On July 7th, 1957, Pelé played for the first time on the Brazilian National Team against Argentina. He was not even sixteen years old! Though Brazil lost to Argentina 2-1, guess who scored Brazil’s only goal? You guessed it. Young Pelé. In 1958, The world was introduced to the newest wonder on the field during the 1958 World Cup whence Brazil played against Sweden. Pelé scored 2 goals in that game, helping the Brazilian team to earn a World Cup title with a final score of 5-2.

Pelé went on to play in three more world cup games: Chile in 1962, England in 1966, and Mexico in 1970. He scored 12 goals in 14 World Cup matches. Of the 4 Brazilian World Cups, Pelé helped his team bring home three World Cup Championships. In 1961, the French newspapers called him “The King,” and the title stuck. Whenever he walked onto the field, people could not control their enthusiasm– roaring crowds always surrounded him. In fact, during the late 1960’s, when his club team, Santos, played in a war-torn Nigeria, the people put down their weapons and declared civil peace in his honor!

A perfect example of spirit’s triumph over circumstances, Pelé, to this day, represents the ultimate soccer player. He shot. He scored.