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Brazilian icon Pele is considered by many to be the all-time 'God of football' due to his achievements as a footballer.
The man whose full name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, grew up hoping to become a professional footballer like his father Joao Ramos do Nascimento, who played for Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro.
Edson received the nickname Pele during his school days, when it is claimed he was given it because of his pronunciation of the name of his favourite player, legendary Vasco da Gama goalkeeper, Bile.
Also nicknamed Dico by his family, Pele grew up in poverty in Sao Paolo where he played for Bauru Athletic Club juniors which was coached by Waldemar de Brito in the 1950s.
However, Pele had an opportunity to change this when he joined Brazilian giants Santos in 1956 after De Brito told the club directors that the 15-year-old would be "the greatest football player in the world."
Dico was highly promoted in the local media as a future superstar and made his senior team debut on 7 September 1956 at the age of 15 against Corinthians Santo Andre.
The teenager, who was adept at striking the ball with either foot, produced an impressive performance in a 7-1 victory, scoring the first goal in his prolific career during the match.
Pele went on to become Santos' record goalscorer (1091 goals) and record appearance-maker (1106 matches), and led the team to the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores triumphs.
After the 1974 season (his 19th with Santos), Pele left the club and joined American side New York Cosmos in the following year where he was credited with significantly increasing public awareness and interest of soccer in the USA.
Pele helped Cosmos clinch the North American Soccer League, (Soccer Bowl) in 1977 and North American Soccer League, the Atlantic Conference Championship in 1977, before retiring from professional football.
However, his achievements at international level caught the attention of the whole world as he inspired Brazil to many major trophies between 1951 and 1971 which made him a global superstar.
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Pele won three FIFA World Cups in 1958, 1962 and 1970, and remains the only player ever to do so. He is also the all-time leading goalscorer for five-time world champions Brazil with 77 goals in 92 games.
According to the IFFHS, he is the most successful domestic league goal-scorer in football history scoring 650 goals in 694 League matches, and in total 1281 goals in 1363 games - including unofficial friendlies which is a Guinness World Record.
Pele, who was for a period the best-paid athlete in the world, is one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century award which he shares with Argentine legend Diego Maradona.
"Pele is the greatest player of all time. He reigned supreme for 20 years. All the others – Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini – rank beneath him. There’s no one to compare with Pele," Franz Beckenbauer, the greatest German player of all-time, said on Footie Central.
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