By: Erin Irish
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pele, is a Brazilian retired professional soccer player and is regarded as the greatest player of all time. He played professionally from 1956 to 1977 for Santos FC and then for the New York Cosmos. He was a member of the Brazilian National Team from 1957 to 1971. He won the Ballon d’Or in 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, and 1970. In 1984, he was won the FIFA Order of Merit. He was inducted into the American National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1999, he was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. In the same year, he was elected by the International Olympic Committee as Athlete of the Century and was also on the list of 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century by Time. In 2000, he was named FIFA Player of the Century. He was considered by the IFFHS to be the most successful league goal-scorer in the world, having scored 1281 goals in 1363 games.