Pele

1. Pele Power point by Nicholas Cico Book by James Buckley jr.

2. Introduction • Birthdate - October 23, 1940 • Birthplace- Tres Coracoes, Brazil • famous for being amazing at soccer. • Has not died. • I chose him because he is one of my favorite players of all time.

3. Childhood Pele was born October 23, 1940. His birth name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, his father was Joao Ramos do Nascimento, and his mother was Maria Celeste Arantes. He had a brother named Jair and his family only had basics in there house such as a wood stove, a small TV, and so on. Back then, he worked at a railroad station Shining shoes for very little money. His father brought in Money for the family by playing soccer but got an injury and could not play for the major leagues so made very little. First, Pele wanted to be able to fly an airplane and then if that didn’t work, he would want to be a soccer player. Back then, it was not necessary for a child to go to school and his parents wanted him to but he didn’t want to. His parents finally got him to go by telling him that to fly an airplane, you would have to know math and maps which they teach you in School. Pele says that there is one thing that he has never forgotten. He and his friends families were poor so his friends said they should steal peanuts from a warehouse and sell them for money. They kept the peanuts in a cave and one day while they were in the cave, there was a landslide and everyone except for one boy made it out. Pele says it was a tragedy.

4. Adolescence Pele was offered at the age of thirteen to play for the Bauru athletic clubs junior team. His coach was going to be Waldemar de Brito, who was an amazing soccer player. After playing on that team for a while, he was offered to play on a Rio de Janeira club Bangu but his mother did not let him because she was afraid he would get a bad injury like his father. After that he decided to play on the city of Santos. His coach's name was Luis Alonso or “Lula”. He was then offered to play a little bit with the professional team. Then at age sixteen, he officially started to play for the national team of Brazil. He was chosen to play in the world cup in Sweden when he was seventeen which is a real honor because not that many people make it. He was one of the best scorers and had many assists for his team. They then made it to the finals vs. Sweden. They won 5-2! At age eighteen, every man has to serve one year the army and when he was, he played for five teams! They let him go once in a while to play for Brazil, his other teams, and three teams in the army that play for fun.

5. Adulthood In the 1962 world cup, Pele pulled a leg muscle and could not play for the rest of the world cup. That year, even though he wasn't playing, they still won. Four years later, he married a girl named Rosmeri who was a basketball player. In the 1966 world cup, the other teams players were more into injuring Pele so he couldn’t play rather than scoring goals. The same year, his manager Pepe Gordo lost all of Peles money and Pele almost declared bankruptcy. He fired Pepe Gordo and got a new manager who helped him. The next year, He had a child named Kelly Cristina. That year, he also completed something only a couple other people have done. He scored his 1000 goal! July 18, 1971 was the day Pele played his last professional game. He would still play for minor teams but not professional. He decided then to move to America to try to make soccer a more popular sport. He played on the New York cosmos. It worked as he planned; soccer was now more popular and was finally being considered as a good sport in America. He had many endorsement products such as soccer balls, soccer shoes, coffee, perfume, toys, motorcycles, cars, and soda but he never was going to endorse alcohol products. His soccer team was doing very well. They made it to the playoffs but lost, and then the next season, they won it all. 1997 was a time nobody looked forward to. Pele played his last game forever. Now a days, Pele helps children hospitals in Brazil. He also stars in TV and movies. In 1997, he has another kid named Edson Cholbi.

6. Timeline 1966 Gets married To Rosemari. 1978 Gets a divorce from Rosemari. 1995 Becomes Brazils minister of sports. 1975 Starts playing for the cosmos. 1953 Joins Bauru athletic club. 1971 Plays last game for Brazil. 1994 Marries Asstria Lemos. 2000 Pele is voted FIFA player of the century. 1955 Starts To play for Santos. 1977 Wins NASL championships With cosmos. 1940 Pele was born.

7. Contributions Pele has given a few contributions to the world. He has made soccer more enjoyable and more of an actual sport to most countries and especially America. He has also taught new players great things about soccer and people enjoy the sport now. People also liked to watch him play. Probably without Pele, soccer would not be much of a sport. Besides soccer, he also helps children hospitals in Brazil which is very nice.

8. Interesting story • What I think is amazing in this story is how Pele grew up to be such a good soccer player even known today. Until the age of about 14, he didn’t even have a single person to help coach him and he didn’t even own a soccer ball. He and his friends played using a sock stuffed with rags and newspaper. Imagine you are playing your sport until 14 without a coach. Do you think you would be better or worse at it? Probably worse but Pele worked hard.

9. Questions • 1. How often did you play soccer as a child by yourself? • 2. Did you watch pro games on TV as a child? • 3. Were your national team teammates surprised when they saw how young you were?

10. Bibliography • Jr., James Buckley (2007). Pele. New York: DK publishing.