His family name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, but

people call him "Pele." He is the number one player in

the story of soccer, In 1.363 games, he scored 1,264
goals. With Brazil, he won the World Cup* three
times. He visited eighty-eight countries, and his picture
was 1n every ne,vspaper.
Bue Pele is not only a famous soccer player. He
knows Spanish, Italian, English. and French. He writes
music, and he works for the Brazilian •.gover
. nment.
Today. Pde is famous. In 1950, he was a boy of ten
with no shoes. This is his story.

Early Years

Edson Arantes do Nascimento came into the world on

the night of October 23, 1940. His family called him
Dico. They lived m a small house in Tres Coracoes,
Brazil.
"Dico has soccer player's legs," his father said.
"Hes going to be a doctor, not a soccer player,"
Dico 's mother, Celeste, said. Celeste was angry.
Dondinho, Dico 's father, was a soccer player, but he
didn't makemuch money.
Dondinho smiled. There were problems in the

* World Cup; A lor of countncs play soccer games m the World L up

championship every four years.
 -
.
.

Dico has soccer players legs.

family about soccer, but there was a lot of love in the

house, too.
In 1944 the manager of Bd11rt1 Ailetico, a big soccer
club, talked to Dondinho. "We want a good soccer
player," the man said. "It's not much money, but there's
work in the town, too. Do you want the job?"
Dondinho said yes, and the family moved to Bauru.
The manager was wrong about one thing. There was
no work for Dondinho in the town. He only played
soccer, and the family had the same money problems.
But Dico was· happy in Baur u with his new friends.
They played their first game_ of soccer in Rua Rubens
Arnufo, a street near Dico's house. Their "football" was
an old ne"vspapcr.
Little Dico played a lot of soccer. Celeste wasn't happy
about this. "T'heres no money in the game," she said.
Dico smiled. His mother was right. He loved soccer,
but he didn't want to be a soccer player. He wanted to
work at the airport. He often went there and looked at
the airplanes.
But Dico 's first job wasn 't in a soccer stadium or an
airport. It was at Bauru station, in 1948. He cleaned
shoes. In that year, things were difficult for the family.
Bue then, Dondinho started work in a doctor ·s office.
He cleaned the building and answered the telephone.
In the afternoons, Dico often visited his father.
"In ten years, you're going to be a young man,"
Dondinho said one day. "What do you want to do?"
"I want to work wich airplanes," Dico said.
"OK. But school is important for that," said his
father.
Later that year.. Dico started school. He wasn't a
good student. He only stayed in school because he
wanted a job at the airport. But one day, an air plane
came down near the school. Dico and his friends went
to the doctor's office and looked in one of the
windows. The man from the airplane was dead. Dico
never talked about a job with airplanes again.
 A New Name

The important thing for Dico now was soccer.

Evenings and weekends, he played with his friends. In
the afternoons, he was with Dondinho. Dondinho was
his soccer teacher, and Dico was a very good student.
After two years, Dico was the number one young
player in Bauru. His friends started to call him "Pele."
"Where does the name come from?" people often
ask. Pele doesn't know.
In 1951, Pei~ started a club, September 7, with his
friends. People called them "the team with no shoes."
They wanted to play in Bauru Atletico's championship
for young teams, but .the shoes were a problem.
One day, a father of one of the players came with
shoes . _ for the team. "Today, I'm giving you a new
name-Ameriquinho," he said. "Now, they can't call you
'the team with no shoes."'
Ameriquinho played very well and won the
championship. After, the final, Dondinho looked at his
son and smiled. "You played a beautiful game, Dico," he
said.

Valdemar de Brito

Baum Atletico Iiked Pele's "beautiful game," too. They

wanted him for · the club's new team of young

4
players, Baquinho. The team manager was Valdemar de
Brito, a famous man :in Brazilian- rn-ccecPele-·was- very
happy.
Valdemar was a good manager and a good teacher. In
1953, Baquinho won the Bauru young team
championship. After this, Valdemar moved away. Pele
was very sorry.
One year later, Pele finished school and started to
work in a shoe factory, At weekends, he played for
Baquinho, but he didn't like the new manager. 1954 was
a bad year.
In the winter of the new year, Valdemar came to
Pele's house. He wanted to talk to the family.
"Your son is fifteen now," he said. "He's a very
good soccer player. He can_ try for a job with
Santos."
Dondinho and Pele were happy. Santos was a very
famous club in Brazil. Celeste didn't like it, but she said
yes. Some days later, Dondinho and Pele went to Santos
on the train. ·
"The Santos. players aren't going to like me," Pelc
said.
But there was no problem. Pele played well, and the
club was happy with its new player. Pele was happy, too.
After some weeks, he had a good friend on the team.
His name was Zito.
Pele wasn't in the first team. But one day, a first team
player.Vasconcelos, had an injury.
Young Pele
 "Let's put young Pele in the first team," the manager
said. ----··
Pele played well and stayed in the first team. He
scored his first goal for them on September 7, 1956.
After that, he started to score a lot of goals. The ream
were very happy. In June, 195 7, they played in the
Maracan.i Championship. Pele scored eight goals.
Suddenly, he was famous. _
"Thank you.Valdemar," said Pele.

The World Cup Games

"Pele! Pele! Pele !" called the Brazilian soccer fans.

The managers of the Brazilian team listened .
Late· in 1957, the names of the new Brazilian World
Cup team were on the radio:" ... Castilho ... Gilmar
. . . Mazzola ... PELE!"
"Can that be right?" Pele asked. "They want me?" He
was only seventeen."
The 1958 World Cup games were in Sweden. Pele
played very well. Brazil won their first games with no
problems. Then they beat Russia 2-0, but it was a
difficult game. Wales were a strong team, too. But Pele
scored a goal, and Brazil won 1-0. The game with
France wasn't difficult. Brazil won 5-2, and Pele scored
three goals. Now they were in the final with Sweden.
Brazil didn't start well, and Sweden scored first. But

7
Now, Pele wasn't only Famous in Braiil ,
 then, Brazil scored five goals. T-w:?._ of thos~ goals were
Pele's, and Brazil won 5-2.
Pele scored six goals in his first World Cup. Brazil
were the champions. Now, Pele wasn't only famous in
Brazil.
Pele didn't play in the later games of the 1 962 World
Cup in Chile, because he had an injury. He watched his
team, and they beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final.
Brazil were the · champions again, and Pele was very
happy for the team.
The 1966 World Cup was in England. Pele doesn't
like remembering this championship. Usually, Brazil
went to the games with twenty-two players. In
England, they had forty-three. This was bad for the
team, because there were new players in every game. In
an early game, Portugal beat them 3-1. The day after
that game, Brazil went home.
In 1970, the World Cup championship was in
Mexico. Pele was only twenty-nine, but he: was the old
man of the Brazilian team. They beat Czechoslovakia
4-1, then they played England, the world champions. It
was a very interesting game, and Brazil won 1-0. After
this, they beat Romania 3-2, and Pele scored two goals.
Then they played Peru in the Jalisco Stadium, and they
won 4-2. Now, there was only one game, with
Uruguay, before the final. It was difficult, but Brazil
won 3-1. The team went to Mexico City and waited
for the final with Italy.

9
Pele quickly scored a very good goal
 The 1970 World Cup final started in the Aztec
Stadium on the afrerneon--of-June 21-, --1970. Pele
quickly scored a very good goal. There was a goal from
Italy, but then Brazil scored three rimes. They won 4-1.
After the game, Pele said goodbye to World Cup
soccer.
People were very sorry. "How rna.ny players in the
world can say, 'I won three World Cups'?" they asked.
There was only on~ answer. There was only one nun.
His narne was Pele.

A Difficult Girl

It was a Saturday night in 1958. Pele and Zito were in

Santos again, after the World Cup.
"There's a girls' ball gan1e in the stadium," Zito said.
"Lee's go
•... and watch."
There was a young white girl at the ball game. She
looked at Pele marry tirries , and he looked at her.
"You 're the farrrous Pele, and you play for San tos ,"
she said, after the •..game.
"That's right," Pelc said." Are you frorn the row n?"
"Yes," the girl said. '·But I don't like soccer." Then,
she walked away. ~
"Who was that?" Zito asked.
Pele srnile d. "A difficult girl," he said.
Pele liked the "difficult girl," but he didn't know her

11
narne. He talked to her friends. _"Her name's Rosemeri
Cholby," they said. "She works in a rn.usic store."
That same week, Pele went to the store. Rosemeri
was there. They talked for some time, then Pele asked,
"Can you come out with me sometimes?"
'Tm sorry," Rosemeri said. 'Tm only fourteen. I
don't go out with boys. But come to my house one
afternoon."
Pele was a visitor at Rosemeri's house for seven
years. Then, in Febr uary, 1 965, they married. The "boy
with no shoes" a~d the "difficult girl" were very happy.

Pele's Years· with SQ71.tr,1

Pele played for Santos from' August, 1956 to October,

1974. In those years, they were the number one club in
Brazil and the world. They won the Brazilian
Championship in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1965.
They won the South American Club Championship in
1962, 1963, and 1968. And they won the World Club
Chan1pionship in the same years.
Pele and the Santos team visited many countries and
played a lot of games. Sometimes, this was difficult for
Pele. He didn't like staying in hotels aU the time; he
wanted to be home in Brazil with his family.
Pele's final game for Santos was on October 2, 1974.
The game was with Ponte Preta. Afi:er a short time, Pele

12
 .
.;c
-·
71''
'
.;./,:r.
,, _.,...
;.

'

.
Pele with Santos in 1969 .

stopped playing. He had the ball in his hands and

looked at the fans in the stadium.
"Thank you," he said. and he walked away from the
game.
"We love you," called the fans.
After Santos, Pele went to New York for a job with
an American team, New York Cosmos. T'he-job was for
$4,700,000. Many people in Brazil were unhappy
abciur chis. "Pele is only going for the money," they said.
But they were wrong. Pelc wanted to make soccer
'i

Thank You . Pele : Soccer Champion of the World.

larno us in the U.S. He did this, and his n ew team were
very happy.
Pele stayed with New York: Cosmos for three years. His
final game was on October 1. 1977. It was with his old
dub, Santos. Pele played fi)r his new team, nrrd then for
Santos. He scored a good goal and said goodbye to
soccer

After Soccer

Pde didn't stop working. He wasn't only a good soccer

player and teacher. He loved young people, too. He
worked for UNICEF,* and talked with governments
about the problems of the world's children. Then, in
1995, he started to work for the Brazilian government.
But the world's soccer fans remember him for his two
good feet, and say: "Thank you, Pele: Soccer Champion
of the World."

*UNICEF: Workers for UNICEF Jo good things tor children

with problems.
 ACTIVITIES

Before you read

1 What do you know about Pele?
a Which town and country is he from?
b What was his first job?
c What was the name of his first team?
2 Find these words in your dictionary. They are all in this book.
Which words are not about soccer?
ball beat champion championship clean club
factory fan .Jina/ goal government injury manager
marry score' · stadium team win world

After you read

3 Answer these questions about Pele.
a Why did Pele's family have problems in Bauru?
b How many goals did Pele score in his first World Cup?
c '-When did Pele play for two teams in the same game?
d Why was Rosemeri Cholby "a difficult girl?"
4 Talk about the problems of famous soccer players.

Writing
5 You are Celeste, Pele's mother. Your son is in Santos. You
are unhappy about that, and you want to see him again. Write
him a letter.
6 You work for a newspaper. Write the story of Pele's first World
Cup final goal.

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r local Pearson Educauon office or to: M,rkt·cing Deparcmenr. P,·ngu10 longrn,n l'ubli,hi,1~.
1 I
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