TITLE: Rua Sete de Setembro
9th 10\f November 2010
Pelé’s first matches were played in the prestigious ‘Rubens Arruda Street stadium – the street outside his home. ‘Goal posts’ of old shoes – one at the cul-de-sac end and the other where it crossed Sete de Setembro Street. “For me at the time it, was like the Maracana Stadium. This was where I first learned the joy of controlling the ball – not always easy with a ball made of socks.”
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TITLE: My Three Hearts
26th 10\f September 2010
Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born in 1940 just north of Rio de Janeiro in the small village of Três Corações, which means Three Hearts. “It makes complete sense that I should have been born in a place called ‘Three Hearts’ for this name has always been an important signpost for me in other places that have influenced my upbringing; Três Corações, where I was born, Bauru where my love of football was born, and Santos where I was born for the world. They have given me three hearts too!”
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TITLE: For Peanuts
26th 10\f September 2010
Team Sete de Setembro needed kit in order to move off the streets and play on real football fields. Money was the challenge. Ze Porto had a brainwave – sell roasted peanuts at the circus and the cinema! Sourcing the peanuts became the next challenge. Forays to the railway cars that transported the bags of raw nuts were successful and after prayers beseeching forgiveness, the proceeds from their roasted nuts paid for kit.
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TITLE: Bola De Meia
26th 10\f September 2010
Growing up in a poor family, Pelé, like many of his ‘football mad’ friends, couldn’t afford any kit – not even a ball. Kids had to make do with stuffing paper or rags into a sock or stocking, shaping it as best they could into a sphere and tying it up with string. Every now and then, when they came across a stray sock – sometimes, it must be said, from an unattended wash line, the ball would become a little bigger, and be tied up again.
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TITLE: A Little Black Boy With Stick-Like Legs
9th 10\f November 2010
At age 11 Pelé’s talent and astounding co-ordination caught the eye of retired soccer player Waldemir de Brito. He polished the skinny youngster’s skills for four years before introducing his protégé to the directors of Santos Football Club, saying: ‘This boy will be the greatest soccer player in the world’.
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TITLE: Bicicleta, Pelé-style
11th 10\f November 2010
‘Bicicleta’, or ‘the bicycle kick’ is often credited to Pelé; it was created by the Argentine player, Petronilho. Where other players battled to perfect the move, Pelé found it easy to score goals using the kick. “The propulsion that was crucial for my headers was also helpful in keeping me in the air as I kicked the ball over my head.”
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