Born Edson Arantes
do Nascimento and later Nicknamed Pele, he is regarded by many to be the greatest football player
of all time.
According
to those who watched him play he was a clinical, prolific goal scorer. He could
strike the ball with both feet and always knew where the goal was and where the
defenders were going to be. In short he was phenomenal.
Some
of the most notable highlights of his career include; scoring a total of 1,283
first-class goals - 77 of those for Brazil. He also won three World Cups, two World Club Championships
and nine Sao Paulo State Championships.
Here are some of the greatest quotes by Pele:
“Football is like a
religion to me. I worship the ball, and I treat it like a god. Too many players
think of a football as something to kick. They should be taught to caress it
and to treat it like a precious gem.”
“When you play against
dirty players or very tough players, it's easy to escape because you know what
they're going to do. But when the player is tough but intelligent, it's much
more difficult.”
“Success isn't
determined by how many times you win, but by how you play the week after you
lose.”
“There is always someone
out there getting better than you by training harder than you.”
“A lot of people, when a
guy scores a lot of goals, think, 'He's a great player', because a goal is very
important, but a great player is a player who can do everything on the field.
He can do assists, encourage his colleagues, give them confidence to go
forward. It is someone who, when a team does not do well, becomes one of the
leaders.”
“Success is no accident.
It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all,
love of what you are doing or learning to do.”
“If you don't give
education to people, it is easy to manipulate them.”
“I am constantly being
asked about individuals. The only way to win is as a team. Football is not
about one or two or three star players.”
“The World Cup is a very
complicated tournament - six games, seven if you make it to the final - and
maybe if you lose one game you're out, even if you're the best.”
“The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning."
“If I pass away one day,
I am happy because I tried to do my best. My sport allowed me to do so much
because it's the biggest sport in the world.”
I always think that I would have become an actor if I hadn’t been a soccer player."
“I was really proud that
I was named after Thomas Edison and wanted to be called Edson. I thought Pele
sounded horrible. It was a rubbish name. Edson sounded so much more serious and
important.”
"Wherever you go, there are three icons that everyone knows: Jesus Christ, Pele and Coca-Cola."
"Wherever you go, there are three icons that everyone knows: Jesus Christ, Pele and Coca-Cola."
“You must respect people
and work hard to be in shape. And I used to train very hard. When the others
players went to the beach after training, I was there kicking the ball.”
“Enthusiasm
is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string”
"For 20 years they have asked me the same question, who is the greatest? Pele or Maradona? I replay that all you have to do is look at the facts – how many goals did he score with his right foot or with his head?"
"For 20 years they have asked me the same question, who is the greatest? Pele or Maradona? I replay that all you have to do is look at the facts – how many goals did he score with his right foot or with his head?"
Pele on Lionel messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
“I like Messi a lot,
he's a great player. Technically, we're practically at the same level.”
“Lionel Messi is a
wonderful player. Very skillful. Highly intelligent. He is not good in the
air.”
“Ronaldo has come
through for the past two or three years and is the best in Europe. I think at
the moment no doubt Ronaldo is the best player.”
"Pele was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic." - Johan Cruyff
Greatest Quotes about Pele
"Pele was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic." - Johan Cruyff
"Messi has all the conditions to be the best, but first he has to beat Maradona, Romario and then eventually Pele." - Romario
"The best player ever? Pele. [Lionel] Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are both great players with specific qualities, but Pele was better." - Alfredo Di Stefano
"An artist in my eyes is someone who can lighten up a dark room. I have never and will never find difference between the pass from Pele to Carlos Alberto in the final of the World Cup in 1970 and the poetry of the young Rimbaud. There is in each of these human manifestations an expression of beauty which touches us and gives us a feeling of eternity." - Eric Cantona