Pele: The Autobiography

Product Information

Pele: The Autobiography is a remarkable book that chronicles the life of one of the greatest soccer players in history, Pele. Written by Pele himself, this book provides an intimate look into his career and personal life as he recounts his journey from humble beginnings to becoming one of the most iconic athletes ever. The greatest player of all time, the athlete of the century, the greatest scorer (1380 goals) of all time, the three times World Cup champion was born in a hut. He learned to play soccer with a ball made of cloth, rigorously barefooted. (His family couldn’t even afford to buy a pair of shoes).

New to StoryShots? Get the PDF, audiobook and animated versions of this summary of Pele: The Autobiography and hundreds of other bestselling nonfiction books in our free top-ranking app. It’s been featured by Apple, The Guardian, The UN, and Google as one of the world’s best reading and learning apps. Related Book Summaries It was during this time that Pele began to demonstrate the leadership qualities which would make him one of the greatest players of all time. He proved to be a natural leader and was always willing to take responsibility for his team’s performance. This proved to be a key factor in his and Santos’ success throughout his career. This biography stands as a tribute to Pelé, documenting all his achievements at both club and international level. Pelé: The King of Soccer I had considered buying this book many times over the years but always held off as I wasn't a major fan of the person and had a suspicion he was overrated.

Explore Activity Village

Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, during a playing career which stretched from 7 Sep 1956 to 1 Oct 1977, Pelé scored 1,283 goals.

Pele was also instrumental in helping Santos become one of the most popular clubs in Brazil and Latin America. He was a crowd favorite, and his charisma and energy on the field were unmatched. On top of that, he was incredibly efficient in front of goal; in 1966, he scored 66 goals in 60 games. It was a record that stood for many years until it was broken by former Santos player Neymar Jr. To get an autobiography from one of the world’s best players is a true gift to cherish. This is a man that was known worldwide, even by individuals that aren’t too familiar with the sport of football. Speaking after meeting the legendary player, Guinness World Records' Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday said: “In 1970 Pelé made his first appearance in the Guinness World Records book, and has been a fixture in every book since." Of course Pelé went along for the ride. He was 17. What else was he going to do? What else did he know? As he matured into adulthood, he would discover that his life had already been built around him: a ceaseless treadmill of football and football and things around the football and more football. He would learn that he and he alone was the show (when he was injured for a while in 1962, Santos attendances dropped by 50%). And once the show moved on, he was essentially pensioned off and left to fend for himself.In his autobiography, Pelé covers every aspect of his life, including his momentous years as a player, as well as the following chapters where he would pursue careers as a politician and sporting ambassador. I now wish I had done this earlier. This is a fantastically enjoyable autobiography, in which Pele really takes you inside how it felt to win the World Cup in Sweden in 1958 aged just 17. Unlike other similar books, this doesn't focus on the way the success was achieved at the expense of what it meant. Edson Arantes do Nascimento has an amazing ability to recall his emotions and really take you inside his head. What makes it more charming is that he was very humble and is open and honest about how much it meant to him (winning it for his dad after promising him as a 10 year old in 1950 following the Maracanazo).

Pele’s performance in the World Cup was nothing short of remarkable. He helped Brazil win their first-ever World Cup title in 1958, and then went on to win the tournament twice more, in 1962 and 1970. Another controversy is Pele's club footballing achievements. The way he lists his 1000 odd goals and includes all sorts of friendlies and exhibitions has never sat well with me as no other player in history includes these stars. However, in reading this book, you come to realise just how many of these matches Pele actually had to play with Santos touring and how so many were more than friendlies in the way they were treated. This book was fun to read and I really liked it. I really enjoyed this book because it was about a really good soccer player and I used to play soccer. This book was about how a little boys dream was to play soccer in the big leagues and become the best. When Pele was a boy he was very poor and he was from Brazil. He got better and better and he decided to try out for the world cup in 1958. His performance was amazing and he immediately went to the big leagues. He played professionally in Brazil for 2 decades and then he went to the New York Cosmos late in his career and finished with them. He won 3 world cups in his career and is arguably one of the best that ever lived. As in most autobiographies, there are areas which one could question, including his infidelities, but he does come across in this book as human. And a lot of what he says is relatable. I found myself watching many world cup clips, especially from the 1970 World Cup. He was a great player.In the age of the athlete-activist, Pelé’s immaculate neutrality comes across as both a little jarring and entirely understandable: the weariness of an octogenarian non‑combatant who is simply wired in a certain way. “You could tell me Muhammad Ali was different,” his friend Kfouri says. “Indeed he was, and I applaud him for it. Ali knew that he would be arrested for refusing the draft, but he ran no risk of being mistreated or tortured. Pelé had no assurance of that.”