We have witnessed many great players in football but what Pele did was undoubtedly exceptional. Edson Arantes do Nascimento better known as Pele, the greatest footballer of all time sadly passed away last night. The legend was battling cancer, a well-fought battle but lost in the end.
Today in this article we will be listing some lesser-known facts about the legend
10) Played for two teams in a single match
Pele played for both sides in an exhibition game between his former teams, New York Cosmos and Santos F.C., in 1997. He played for Santos in the first half of the match, where he even scored a goal, and played for Cosmos in the second. The match ended with Cosmos wining the game 2-1.
9) Received British Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II
In 1997, the Brazilian was honored with the honorary Knighthood by the Queen. However, he was not allowed to use “Sir” before his name unless he became a British National.
8) His father was a footballer
João Ramos do Nascimento (Dondinho), father of Pele was also a footballer who played for Atletico Mineiro and some other small local football clubs. Being a footballer, he was also a mentor and trainer for his son. I guess his father trained his kid well.
7) He also played indoor football
In his teens when he was just starting, he came to know about a similar sport which is commonly known as Futsal. Pele and his friend join a Futsal team named, “Radium”, and won several competitions. Thanks to that, his footwork got improved and he even admits that several times.
6) He has scored over 100 hat tricks
In his legendary career, Pele scored a total of 129 hat tricks. He has 93 games when he scored 3 goals, 38 games when he scored 4 goals, and six matches when he scored double hat tricks. These are just crazy numbers, no wonder is the best ever.
5) His first contract was a $ 10-a-month contract
Very few people know that his first contract with Santos when he was just 15 years old was for just ten Dollars, and with that money, mama’s boy bought his mother a gas stove.
But later, he signed a 7 million contract with New York Cosmo in the year 1975 and this made him the highest-paid athlete of that time.
4) He was a Brazillian National Treasure
He is a national hero, he dedicated his life to his country. He won 3 them a World Cup, let Brazil to the World Cup win 1958 and became the national hero. He was a kind of player everybody wanted but, big European nations like Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United wanted him to play with this.
By all this Brazil’s president of that declared him as a national treasure in 1961 and Pele was very happy with this decision and played for Santos for his entire career.
3) Movie on Pele
Pele: The Birth of a Legend is 2016 drama sport movie based on his entire life. The movie was focused on how pele became the legendry footballer, how his journey started.
This movie is available on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
2) A World Record is under his name
Pele has two World Records, one is the most goals scored by a single player in his career, and second is the most World Cup win by an individual. He is also the youngest player to score in a World Cup final, Frenchstar Kylian Mbappe was few days behind him when he scored in the World Cup final in 2018.
1) There is a Pele Day
On November 19, 1969, he notched his goal number 1000. In Santos, November 19 is simply referred to as Pelé Day.
They also have a statue of his in Rio De Jarenio.
READ MORE: “Rest Easy King!” Twitter in dismay after ‘The King of Football’ Pele dies at the age of 82
