Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Brazilian Portuguese: ['etso (w)a'ratSiz du nasi'metu]; born 23 October 1940), known as Pele ([pe'le]), is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played as a forward. He is widely regarded as the greatest football player of all time. In 1999, he was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). That same year, Pele was elected Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee.

Pele was born on 23 October 1940, in Tres Coracoes, Minas Gerais, Brazil, the son of Fluminense footballer Dondinho (born Joao Ramos do Nascimento) and Celeste Arantes. He was the elder of two siblings. He was named after the American inventor Thomas Edison. His parents decided to remove the "i" and call him "Edson", but there was a mistake on the birth certificate, leading many documents to show his name as "Edison", not "Edson", as he is called. He was originally nicknamed "Dico" by his family. He received the nickname "Pele" during his school days, when it is claimed he was given it because of his pronunciation of the name of his favorite player, local Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Bile, which he misspoke but the more he complained the more it stuck. In his autobiography, Pele stated he had no idea what the name means, nor did his old friends. Apart from the assertion that the name is derived from that of Bile, and that it is Hebrew for "miracle" (pe'le), the word has no known meaning in Portuguese.  Pele grew up in poverty in Bauru in the state of Sao Paulo. He earned extra money by working in tea shops as a servant. Taught to play by his father, he could not afford a proper football and usually played with either a sock stuffed with newspaper and tied with a string or a grapefruit. He played for several amateur teams in his youth, including Sete de Setembro, Canto do Rio, Sao Paulinho, and Ameriquinha. Pele led Bauru Athletic Club juniors (coached by Waldemar de Brito) to two Sao Paulo state youth championships. In his mid-teens, he played for an indoor football team called Radium. Indoor football had just become popular in Bauru when Pele began playing it. He was part of the first Futebol de Salao (indoor football) competition in the region. Pele and his team won the first championship and several others.  According to Pele, indoor football presented difficult challenges; he said it was a lot quicker than football on the grass and that players were required to think faster because everyone is close to each other in the pitch. Pele accredits indoor football for helping him think better on the spot. In addition, indoor football allowed him to play with adults when he was about 14 years old. In one of the tournaments he participated, he was initially considered too young to play, but eventually went on to end up top scorer with fourteen or fifteen goals. "That gave me a lot of confidence", Pele said, "I knew then not to be afraid of whatever might come".  Pele arrived in Sweden sidelined by a knee injury but on his return from the treatment room, his colleagues stood together and insisted upon his selection. His first match was against the USSR in the third match of the first round of the 1958 FIFA World Cup, where he gave the assist to Vava's second goal. He was the youngest player of that tournament, and at the time the youngest ever to play in the World Cup. Against France in the semifinal, Brazil was leading 2-1 at halftime, and then Pele scored a hat-trick, becoming the youngest in World Cup history to do so.  On 29 June 1958, Pele became the youngest player to play in a World Cup final match at 17 years and 249 days. He scored two goals in that final as Brazil beat Sweden 5-2 in Stockholm, the capital. His first goal where he flicked the ball over a defender before volleying into the corner of the net, was selected as one of the best goals in the history of the World Cup. Following Pele's second goal, Swedish player Sigvard Parling would later comment; "When Pele scored the fifth goal in that Final, I have to be honest and say I felt like applauding". When the match ended, Pele passed out on the field, and was revived by Garrincha. He then recovered, and was compelled by the victory to weep as he was being congratulated by his teammates. He finished the tournament with six goals in four matches played, tied for second place, behind record-breaker Just Fontaine, and was named best young player of the tournament.  It was in the 1958 World Cup that Pele began wearing a jersey with number 10. The event was the result of disorganization: the leaders of the Brazilian Federation did not send the shirt numbers of players and it was up to FIFA to choose the number 10 shirt to Pele who was a substitute on the occasion. The press proclaimed Pele the greatest revelation of the 1958 World Cup, and he was also retroactively given the Silver Ball as the second best player of the tournament, behind Didi.  Pele has also been known for connecting the phrase "The Beautiful Game" with football. A prolific goalscorer, he was known for his ability to anticipate opponents in the area and finish off chances with an accurate and powerful shot with either foot. Pele was also a hard-working team-player, with exceptional vision and intelligence, who was recognised for his precise passing, and ability to link-up with teammates and provide them with assists.  In his early career, he played in a variety of attacking positions. Although he usually operated inside the penalty area as a main striker or centre-forward, his wide range of skills also allowed him to play in a more withdrawn role, as an inside forward or second striker, or out wide. In his later career, he took on more of a deeper playmaking role behind the strikers, often functioning as an attacking midfielder. Pele's unique playing style combined speed, creativity, and technical skill with physical power, stamina, and athleticism. His excellent technique, balance, flair, agility, and dribbling skills enabled him to beat opponents with the ball, and frequently saw him use sudden changes of direction and elaborate feints in order to get past players, such as his trademark move, the drible da vaca. Another one of his signature moves was the paradinha, or little stop.  In spite of his relatively small stature, 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m), he excelled in the air, due to his heading accuracy and elevation. Renowned for his bending shots, he was also an accurate free-kick taker, and penalty taker, although he often refrained from taking penalties, stating that he believed it to be a cowardly way to score.

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