Fast Facts about Pele

• Full name is Edson Arantes Do Nascimento; childhood nickname was "Dico."
• Began playing soccer in a Brazilian minor league team, aged 16
• Scored 2 goals in championship World Cup game, helping Brazil beat Sweden (1958); he was 17, the youngest to play in World Cup finals.
• Brazil declared him a national treasure to keep him from being transferred to a team out of the country
• Scored Brazil's 100th World Cup goal with his head (1970)
• Ranks #1 in career goals: 1,280 in 1,360 games
• Holds world record for hat tricks (92) and number of goals scored in international play (97)
• Dubbed soccer "the beautiful game"
• Played two seasons with New York Cosmos
• His final game was an exhibition match between NY Cosmos and his former Brazilian team Santos; he played first half with the NY team, second half with the Brazilian team (1977).
• Composed entire soundtrack for the film, Pelé
• Inducted into National Soccer Hall of Fame (1993)
• Named IOC Athlete of the Century (1999)
• From 1956-1974, scored 1,220 goals – like hitting an average of 70 home runs a season for 15 years
• Scored an average of one goal per international game – like hitting a home run in every World Series game for 15 years
• In 1967, both sides in Nigerian civil war declared a 48-hour ceasefire, so Pelé could play an exhibition match in Lagos