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- @
- Pele was the
- greatest soccer
- player in the
- world, and he
- came from
- the greatest
- soccer-playing
- nation in the
- world. He was a
- professional
- while still a boy,
- he played in four
- world cups, and
- he scored some
- of the most
- breathtakingly
- beautiful goals
- ever seen on a
- soccer field
- #
- Pele became an
- international star
- when he was 16
- years old. He was
- following in the
- footsteps of his
- father, who had
- also been a
- professional
- player. But Pele
- was soon to
- scale peaks of
- achievement, and
- make mountains
- of money, that no
- soccer player
- before him had
- dreamed of
- #
- Like all the great
- Brazilians, Pele
- had the gifts of
- flamboyance and
- skill. But he also
- had speed, flair
- intelligence, and a
- shot like a
- cannonball
- #
- On the day Pele
- put the ball in
- the net for the
- thousandth time,
- everyone was
- aware of the fact
- that sporting
- history was
- being made.
- Pele's approach
- to scoring goals
- was entirely
- intuitive: "If I
- have to think
- about a move,
- it's no good and
- it never works."
- #
- Between 1958
- and 1970 Brazil
- won three out of
- the four world
- cup tournaments.
- In 1966 Pele's
- reputation went
- before him, and
- he was made the
- target for some
- very brutal play:
- "I shall never
- play in another
- world cup," he
- said afterwards.
- "They can find
- someone else to
- kick around."
- #
- The lure of the
- greatest football
- tournament in
- the world proved
- too much. In
- 1970, in Mexico
- City, Pele was
- back in his gold
- number 10 shirt,
- leading Brazil to
- victory. Pele
- scored in the final
- against Italy, and
- Brazil, three-time
- winners, were
- allowed to keep
- the trophy
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