Why is Edson Arantes do Nascimento know as Pelé?
Why is Edson Arantes do Nascimento know as Pelé? Brazilian soccer player Edson Arantes do Nascimento is possible the most famous of all the game's brightest stars -but the world knows him as Pelé, a name whose origins he says go back to his early youth in the streets of his home city, Três Corações. Born in 1940 into a poor black family, he was called Dico for most of his childhood. When he began playing pro fessional soccer, Brazilian fans soon gave him a nickname, as they do many other players. In his early teens, the young Edson shone at pelada, a street version of soccer, and it is believed that his skill at that game led friends to call him Pelé. During his career, Pelé played 1363 matches and scored 1281 goals. He was a member of Brazil's teams that won the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970. In 1975 he signed a three-year contract worth almost $4 million to play for New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League. Some 76 000 fans, capti vated by the Brazilian's s
