The boy who’d become king was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on Oct. 23, 1940, in Tres Coracoes, a modest municipality in southeastern Brazil. He was raised 300 miles to the west in Bauru by his parents, Celeste Arantes and João Ramos do Nascimento, a housewife and a professional soccer player. Dad taught little Edson the sport.
They initially called him “Dico.” The nickname that stuck, “Pelé,” was a schoolboy creation. Edson’s classmates derived it from his mispronunciation of “Bilé,” a pro goalkeeper. Edson initially hated the name. “On one occasion, I punched a classmate because of it,” he’d later recall. But he eventually came around.
He honed his skills, meanwhile, on dusty pitches surrounded by neighborhood companions. When they didn’t have a ball to kick about, they made one, perhaps by stuffing a sock with newspaper and tying it tight with a string, or perhaps by converting a grapefruit.
