He also comes across as a psychological phenomenon, a blend of different aspects of his parents synthesised into sporting excellence. Get instant access. His father, known as Dondinho, was a skilled and intelligent footballer with an easygoing nature and a ready smile. His mother had ferocious strength of character which, with women denied an outlet for their talents at the time, could be channelled into the fear of being unable to provide for her family.
Dondinho's football dreams ended in serious injury, plunging the family into poverty and making Pele's mother dead set against the idea of a career in football for her son. Those maternal reservations were overcome, but the lessons stayed with him. He was entering an insecure profession, full of risks. He should take nothing for granted and make sure to look after himself financially.
Pele was spurred on by the two most powerful motivating forces. There was the pride in his profession that he took from his father, and the fear of failure placed in him by his mother. Working together, pride and fear pushed him ever harder -- to think faster, run harder, jump higher, train better, respond better to pressure. The often tiresome arguments about the greatest of all time can become even more tiresome when Pele's advocates start talking about the over 1, goals that he scored.
Many of them came in friendlies; Santos played lots of them because at the time it was much more lucrative than taking part in the South American equivalent of the Champions League, and it would have been impossible otherwise for a relatively modest club to pay Pele and his brilliant supporting cast.
But Pele's genius did not lay in mere statistical accumulation, in calculating how many goals he scored when playing for the Brazilian Army. Mere numbers cannot do him justice. His greatness lies in the way he bestrode the big occasions, and in the quality of the memories that his career leaves behind. In , his attacking partner was Tostao, probably the brightest of all his teammates. Tostao recalls introducing Pele to his father -- and seeing his father break down in tears: "It was as if he was in front of his God!
Well before the World Cup the playwright Nelson Rodrigues , an eccentric but brilliant and influential observer of Brazilian football, identified Pele as a genius. Brazil have produced a near perfect qualifying campaign, winning 11 of 12 matches — their only blemish a goalless draw in Colombia last month — to qualify with six games to spare.
Firstpost Conversations 9 Months S. Home Sports News Football legend Pele celebrates 81st birthday as tributes roll in. File image of Pele. Santos, where played from to , wished him "a long life" and "a happy birthday". He had surgery four days later and spent about ten days in an intensive care unit, where he returned briefly a few days later because of breathing difficulties, before leaving hospital on September The result of the tumor biopsy was never made public, but doctors said Pele will have to undergo "chemotherapy.
Pele has worried his fans often with his fragile health and has been admitted to hospital several times for various health problems. They have already prepared the cake The club has also prepared a celebration for their game against America on Saturday, with a shirt with a patch in tribute to the king of Brazilian soccer designed for the occasion and a song planned for the 10th minute.
Pele traditionally wore the number Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as "Pele", the only player to win three World Cups , , is undergoing chemotherapy after being admitted to hospital on August 31 for routine examinations which detected a "suspicious" tumor in his colon.
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