Sports Desk: King of football ‘Kalomanik’ Pele died at the age of 82 after a long battle with terminal cancer. He breathed his last at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo at 1 am on Thursday (December 29). The undisputed emperor of football, Pele, has numerous records next to his name.
He is the only footballer in the world to have won three World Cups. Pele made his debut in the Brazil team at the age of 16. He then played four World Cups for Brazil. Pele won three World Cups in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
Pele scored 12 goals in 14 matches in four World Cups. Pele held the record for most goals + assists in World Cup history before Lionel Messi broke the record at the World Cup in Qatar. Pele holds the record for the youngest World Cup goal and World Cup win. He scored a goal in the World Cup and won the World Cup when he was only 17 years old. No one has been able to break this record of his yet.
In 1958, at the age of 17, he scored a hat-trick in the semi-finals of the first World Cup and a brace in the final. After playing one match in the 1962 World Cup, Pele did not play again due to injury. However, when Brazil won the World Cup, it was also considered a victory for Pele.
Then Pele performed brilliantly in his last World Cup in 1970. Pele won his third World Cup by scoring in the final against Italy. Also, Brazil took the Julerime trophy forever.
He spent most of his club career at traditional Brazilian club Sastos. He played for the club for about 18 years. Pele scored 618 goals in 636 matches for Sastos. At the end of his career, the football emperor played for New York Cosmos for two years.
More than a thousand goals in the career of Pele, the number of official goals recognized by FIFA is 757. The number of goals he scored in his career as Pele is 1283. He is still the highest goalscorer in the history of the country with 77 goals in 92 matches in the Brazilian jersey.
The International Olympic Committee recognized Pele as the ‘Athlete of the Century’ in 1999. And in 2000, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) recognized Pele as the best footballer of the 20th century. He also won the FIFA ‘Player of the Century’ award. Pele was declared a national treasure of Brazil.
