Remembering King Pele a year after

Pele with former US President, Bill Clinton

Pele—the king of football died on December 29, 2022, only 11 days after the end of the Qatar World Cup Football Championships, but his name, birthday and memory remain ever green in the hearts of friends and fans all over the world.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento was his official name. Universally, he is called Pele and planetarily, he is acknowledged as the undisputed king of football. No celebrity or government leader in all of history can claim to have a better name recognition than Pele who enjoyed the goodwill of all–male and female, young and old–in virtually every country.

Even the popular U.S. President Reagan acknowledged this fact when he said at an official reception for Pele in 1982. Said he: “I need to introduce myself as Ronald Reagan, president of the United States of America, but Pele does not need any introduction because everyone knows him.”

Born on October 23, 1940, at Tres Coracoes, Brazil, Pele was only 10 years old when an event that shaped most of his life happened. On their grounds, Brazil lost the 1950 World Cup soccer finals to Uruguay. The nation was devastated and the people mourned. On that day, Pele saw his father, Joao, who himself was a footballer with the nickname Dondinho, cry for the first time in his life.

As a way of consoling his father, Pele made him a promise, “One day, I will win you the World Cup.” Pele said afterwards, “seeing my father cry was more shocking to me than losing the World Cup.”

It took Pele only eight years to keep his promise to his father when in 1958 he scored twice to beat Sweden 5-2 in the World Cup finals to lift the Jules Rimet Cup for Brazil. In jubilation, Pele’s father and mother, Maria Celeste held him at the same time