In the kingdom of football, Pelé was the king. He died on Thursday December 29. Entering the legend at barely 17 years old by becoming the youngest scorer in the World Cup (a record unequaled since), Edson Arantes do Nascimento – of his real name – remains the only football player in history to have won three times this tournament (1958, 1962, 1970).
From his childhood on the streets of Três Corações where he dribbled barefoot with fruit or tied socks – his family could not afford a ball – to his very official status as a Brazilian “national treasure”, Pelé is went down in history thanks to his incalculable number of broken records and shaped his legend through multiple anecdotes, sometimes fictionalized, told in his two autobiographies.
In the head of “DD”: “Kylian Mbappé, the new Pelé”
Why was he nicknamed Pelé? How did he grow up? Did he really come close to playing at PSG? And by the way, why has he never played in Europe? Was he really behind a ceasefire in Nigeria? “L’Obs” looks back on video on five significant events in his life.
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