Edson Arantes do Nascimento

Pele playing on an American Team calle dthe Cosmo (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=cosmos)

My hero is someone who is very talented, thoughtful, hard working and inspires others. This man is always willing to sacrifice for something he wants. This is most clear in his soccer career where he never gave up and always tried his best. He is not only more clearly noticed in his soccer career, but he also around the world because he helped donate to different organizations. My hero has those qualities. His name is Pele, one of the greatest soccer players in the world.

Pele scored 1,281 goals in his soccer career (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=cosmos)

Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born October 23, 1940 in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He was born as the son of a famous footballer in the Fluminese Football club in Brazil named Dondinho though his father’s real name João Ramos do Nascimento) . Pele was named after Thomas Edison an American inventor. Pele’s family though nicknamed him Dico. When he went to school people started to nickname Edson “Pele”, though Pele didn’t really even know where the name “Pele” came from. Either way he didn’t really like the name. Although in Irish Pele means “footballer”. However, even with getting picked on at school he still managed to work hard for his family, and raise money since his family lived in poverty. Pele worked at tea shops as a servant to help raise money for his family. Even when he finished working he still had time to go outside and play soccer. Even though Pele didn’t have soccer ball because he was so poor, he used a grapefruit or stuffed sock as a makeshift soccer ball. This shows that he is a very hard worker, and dedicated individual.

Pele playing on the Brazilian National team (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/view-the-dugout/200805/welcome-the-dugout)

Pele dreamed about joining the Bauru Youth football club. He was so talented at playing soccer, that when Pele was eleven he was scouted by Waldemar de Brito. Brito knew that Pele had such a great talent playing football that he even told him he's be “one the greatest football players in the world”. Pele joined a Brazilian team called Santos FC junior. Pele was so good that when he turned sixteen he joined the senior team of Santos FC. The club signed Pele to a contract when Pele began to start his soccer career. He was one of the starting eleven on the Santo FC senior soccer club. Pele worked really hard earning his way to being one of the starting eleven Santo FC senior players and became one of the top scorers in the league. While still playing for the Santo FC senior more coaches started to take notice of him. He was starting to become more famous ten months later. He got called up by the Brazilian national coach. During one of the international games against Mexico Pele suffered an injury trying to shoot a long range goal. This injury took Pele out for the rest of the World Cup. He then played during the 1970 World Cup. During his career on the Brazilian national team he won three world cups and he played in four, including the 1970 World Cup. When Pele was on the field Brazil never lost a match. This is important because this shows that he had great talent. He scored one of his first goals for Brazil when he was sixteen and one of the youngest players ever to score in international football. Pele was so good that he was one of the first and youngest players ever to play in the World Cup final and score two goals against Sweden in June of nineteen fifty eight. He played in the 1962 World Cup and 1970 World Cup in which he scored many goals during that time frame. He retired from international soccer in the year of 1971. He scored 1281 goals in 1,363 matches which is an all-time world record in professional football.

Pele retired in 1974 from Brazilian Football (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=cosmos)

After his retirement, Pele was so important and inspired others. In 1967 he had the power to stop the Nigerian War for forty eight hours so that he could play his exhibition match in Lagos. After he retired from Brazilian soccer he went to play on an American soccer team called the Cosmos in which he planned to inspire others in America to play soccer. People began to know who Pele was and Americans became inspired. Not only did he inspire and help others before he retired from soccer. He was appointed a United Nations ambassador for ecology and the environment. In 1995 Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso appointed Pele a potion in the “Extraordinary Minster for Sport” and Pele was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. Pele is a long-standing contributor for children's rights at UNICEF and acts as the figurehead of a charity for erectile dysfunction. Pele received many awards such as the North American soccer league champions in 1977, in 1978 the international Peace prize. Also being the number one athlete of the century in 1981. He was given honor of British Knight commander of the British Empire, Athlete of the Century again in 1999, UNICEF Football Player of the Century in 1999 three times by different committees. In the same year, Pele received the Laureus World Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement Award from South African President Nelson Mandela. Also Pele received FIFA Player of the Century in 2000, Sportsman of the Century in 2000, BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and most recent FIFA Presidential Award in 2007. All of these awards show all the hard work, sacrifice, and dedication Pele my hero put into during his soccer career and even after he retired from soccer. Also how Pele influenced many organizations and people around the world.

Pele is receiving awards and giving a speech. (http://famous-football-players-biography.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html)

Overall my hero is someone who is dedicated, hard working, and talented, doesn’t give up, inspires others and helps others. These are the qualities that I look for in my hero and role model. My hero Pele had all those qualities which is fantastic because all that hard work paid off into being one of the best, known soccer players in the world.