85 years since the birth of the King of football Pelé: the man who turned football into art

On October 23, the best football player and sportsman of the 20th century, Brazilian Pelé, who left an indelible mark in the history of world football and received the nickname and status of the "King" of this sport during his playing career, would have turned 85.

"When I was about seven or eight years old, some boy called me 'Pelé' during a football game. I was offended. What kind of nickname is Pelé? I said, no, that's not my name. Then all the other kids, as always happens, deliberately started calling me Pelé. And since then, this nickname has stayed with me. And later it became the most popular in the world."

The King of football's dizzying career lasted 21 years. During this time, he played 560 matches on the field and became the only three-time world champion in history. If friendly matches are counted, Pelé participated in 1363 games, scoring 1281 goals.

Qalereya