Welcome to the Pele Gallery.

About the Artist

Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born in Tres Coracoes, a city in the south of Minas Gerais state in Brazil, on 23 October 1940. His childhood was typical by Brazilian standards, living in relative hardship with his family struggling to make ends meet. Yet this was no ordinary child. Under the watchful eye of his father "Dondinho", whose football career ended prematurely through injury, the boy who would become known simply as "Pele" began to demonstrate his own aptitude with a round ball. Despite the protests of his mother Dona Celeste, who feared her son would suffer the same fate as Dondinho, Pele would cultivate his talent with friends on the street outside his family home.

As he grew older, Pele formed his own teams and his prodigious flair soon had local scouts sitting up and taking notice. Before long a host of professional clubs were lining up to offer him trials. Following the advice of former Brazil international Valdemar de Brito, who had coached one of Pele's childhood teams, the boy wonder joined Santos, a Sao Paulo-based club.

He played his first professional match in 1956, at the age of 15, and made his debut for Brazil just ten months later. Then, at just 17, he became the youngest-ever World Cup winner as Brazil lifted the Jules Rimet trophy in Sweden in 1958. The tournament confirmed Pele - second-top scorer with six goals - as a world superstar.