Editing Pelé (section)

== Early years ==

[[File:Praça do Pelé.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pelé's birthplace, [[Três Corações]] in Minas Gerais, with his commemorative statue in the city's plaza pictured. Pelé also has a street named after him in the city{{snds}}Rua Edson Arantes do Nascimento.]]

Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on 23 October 1940 in [[Três Corações]], Minas Gerais, the son of [[Fluminense FC|Fluminense]] footballer [[Dondinho]] (born João Ramos do Nascimento) and Celeste Arantes (1922–2024).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.infobae.com/america/agencias/2024/06/21/muere-celeste-arantes-madre-de-pele-a-los-101-anos/|title=Muere Celeste Arantes, madre de Pelé, a los 101 años|publisher=Infobae|language=ES|date=21 June 2024|access-date=21 June 2024}}</ref> He was the elder of two siblings,{{sfn|Pelé|Fish|1977|p=18–19}} with brother [[Zoca]] also playing for Santos, albeit not as successfully.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.santosfc.com.br/morreu-zoca-o-escudeiro-do-rei/|title=Morreu Zoca, o escudeiro do Rei|trans-title=Zoca has died, the King's squire|date=26 March 2020|accessdate=2 February 2023|website=santosfc.com.br|language=Portuguese|archive-date=2 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202011105/https://www.santosfc.com.br/morreu-zoca-o-escudeiro-do-rei/|url-status=live}}</ref> He was named after the American inventor [[Thomas Edison]].{{sfn|Pelé|2008|p=14}} His parents decided to remove the "i" and call him "Edson", but there was a [[typo]] on his birth certificate, leading many documents to show his name as "Edison", not "Edson", as he was called.{{sfn|Pelé|2008|p=14}}<ref name="Name">{{cite web|last1=Narcía|first1=Eva|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/spanish/seriemilenio08.htm|title=Un siglo, diez historias|publisher=[[BBC World Service]]|language=es|access-date=21 June 2010|archive-date=11 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111034444/https://www.bbc.co.uk/spanish/seriemilenio08.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> He was originally nicknamed "Dico" by his family.{{sfn|Pelé|Fish|1977|p=18–19}}<ref name=Guardian-nick>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2006/may/13/sport.comment9|title=From Edson to Pelé: my changing identity|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=1 October 2006|location=London|date=12 May 2006|archive-date=14 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114203817/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2006/may/13/sport.comment9|url-status=live}}</ref> He received the nickname "Pelé" during his school days, it is claimed,{{by whom|date=October 2023}} after mispronouncing the name of his favourite player, [[CR Vasco da Gama|Vasco da Gama]] goalkeeper Bilé. In his autobiography released in 2006, Pelé stated he had no idea what the name means, nor did his old friends, and the word has no meaning in Portuguese. He would later learn it means "miracle" ({{Lang|he|פֶּלֶא}}) in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]].{{sfn|Pelé|Fish|1977|p=18–19}}{{refn|group=note|Pelé presumed that it was an insult since the word had no meaning in Portuguese. He discovered in the 2000s that the word meant "miracle" in Hebrew.<ref>{{cite news|first=Denise|last=Winterman |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4578032.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123121709/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4578032.stm|archive-date=23 November 2008|title=Taking the Pelé|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=11 January 2023|date=4 January 2006|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Pelé grew up in poverty in [[Bauru]] in the state of [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]]. He earned extra money by working in tea shops as a servant. Taught to play by his father, he could not afford a proper football and usually played with either a sock stuffed with newspaper and tied with string or a grapefruit.<ref name="pelebio">{{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/people/pel%C3%A9-39221|title=Pelé|publisher=[[Biography.com]], via [[A&E Television Networks]]|access-date=18 July 2017|archive-date=13 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013134917/https://www.biography.com/athlete/pele|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Pelé|Fish|1977|p=18–19}} He played for several amateur teams in his youth, including ''Sete de Setembro'', ''Canto do Rio'', ''São Paulinho'', and ''Ameriquinha''.{{sfn|Heizer|1997|p=173}} Pelé led ''[[Bauru Atlético Clube]]'' juniors (coached by [[Waldemar de Brito]]) to two [[São Paulo]] state youth championships.{{sfn|Magill|1999|p=2950}} In his mid-teens, he played for an indoor football team called Radium. Indoor football had just become popular in Bauru when Pelé began playing it. He was part of the first [[futsal]] (indoor football) competition in the region. Pelé and his team won the first championship and several others.<ref name="salao1" />

According to Pelé, futsal (indoor football) presented difficult challenges: he said it was a lot quicker than football on the grass, and that players were required to think faster because everyone is close to each other in the pitch. Pelé credits futsal for helping him think better on the spot. In addition, futsal allowed him to play with adults when he was about 14 years old. In one of the tournaments he participated in, he was initially considered too young to play, but eventually went on to end up top scorer with 14 or 15 goals. "That gave me a lot of confidence", Pelé said, "I knew then not to be afraid of whatever might come".<ref name=salao1>{{cite web|title=Pele Speaks of Benefits of Futebol de Salão|url=http://www.icfds.com/leeds/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=2|publisher=International Confederation of Futebol de Salão|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112150737/http://www.icfds.com/leeds/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=2|archive-date=12 January 2016|date=24 May 2006}}</ref>