“The King of Football”: Pele turns 80

A statue of Pele was unveiled at the entrance to the youth center, and a “goal forest” with 1.283 seedlings was planted around the playing fields – the number of goals scored by the “King”. “I said back in 1969, when I scored the 1000th goal, that we have to look at the children. They should be able to keep dreaming to become what they want,” said Pele. The former sports star, who also served as Brazil's sports minister from 1995 to 1998, celebrates his 80th birthday on Friday.

Pele scored over 1000 goals in his career. © AFP / -

With his skill and story from poor boy to millionaire, the three-time world champion represents Brazil like no other. He shaped an era. When Pele started in the 1950s, hardly anyone wanted to become a professional footballer and the income was low. At the beginning of the 1960s, after winning the World Cup for the first time (1958), Pele earned as much as a young professional at a big club currently earns. The leap into the business world By moving to Cosmos New York at the end of his career, Pele, together with Franz Beckenbauer, helped US soccer gain a short amount of attention - and he managed to make the leap into the business world. According to Beckenbauer, the “greatest footballer of all time” used his name profitably in the following decades, especially as an advertising figure. In 2014, the year of the World Cup in Brazil, he was one of the ten highest-paid retired athletes in the world.

Much earlier, in the 1970s, the Chilean Elias Figueroa - one of the world's best defenders - moved to Internacional Porto Alegre instead of Real Madrid in order to play in the same league as Pele. Today, Brazilian talents dream of a contract with a European club even as teenagers.

Recently things have become quieter around the “King” due to health reasons. During the corona pandemic, Pele stayed at home in Guaruja in the state of Sao Paulo to avoid infection. A celebration like 50 years after his 1000th goal in Santos' own “Museu Pele” in 2019 is therefore not planned. FC Santos, his parent club, is counting down the days until Pele's milestone birthday and paying tribute to him on social media. 7 children, 3 wives In Resende, Pele also mentioned his family. “People talk about football, my career, but no one has asked about my children,” he said. “In this situation I spent a little more time with them and learned a lot.” Pele has 7 children – including several illegitimate children. A marriage broke up twice. In 2, at the age of 2016, he married the entrepreneur Marcia Aoki for the third time. “God sent me the bill for my years as an athlete.” Pele in an interview 2 years ago But in addition to his body, Pele's soul also hurts. His son Edinho reported in an interview with the sports portal Globoesporte that the man with the bright smile was somewhat depressed. “He is the king, he was always such an imposing figure, and today he can no longer walk properly.” In an interview with the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo on his 78th birthday, Pele said that God had taken care of his years as a king Athlete sent.

The shoemaker's apprentice received a contract with Santos in 1956 and made his debut in the first team at the age of 15. National coach Vicente Feola took the 17-year-old Pele to the World Cup in Sweden in 1958, where he became the youngest world champion in football history to date. Just as Pele's star rose then, Pele also made Brazil known to the world.

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“The King of Football”: Pele turns 80

Wherever he performs, he is still the star. “Pele, Pele, eo rei” (it's the king), people shouted as Brazil's national hero, sitting in a wheelchair after several hip operations, arrived at the inauguration of the football academy named after him in Resende in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

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