Brazil's always had great players, both at home and abroad, but we need to put all that talent together and mould a team out of it.
— Pele
Edson is the person that supports Pele. Edson is the base. Pele just comes and adds the face.
All my life I thank God. My family was very religious.
When you are young, you do a lot of stupid things.
In 1962, my injury wasn't because of violence; I just kicked the ball and it happened. And that was OK because Brazil won; I didn't have any difficulty in accepting that. I still got a medal because I'd played two games.
I have to trust something that gives me power; I have to believe in something, but in my career I have a lot of moments I cannot explain with God.
I always had a philosophy which I got from my father. He used to say, 'Listen. God gave to you the gift to play football. This is your gift from God. If you take care of your health, if you are in good shape all the time, with your gift from God no one will stop you, but you must be prepared.'
The level of football in England is the top. English football is the leader in the world.
No doubt, I am earning more money with my endorsements than I ever earned playing soccer.
To be a striker you need to be in good shape.
I sometimes lie awake at night and wonder why I am still so popular and, to be honest, I don't know.
If you don't give education to people, it is easy to manipulate them.
Of course, my father was a soccer player. He used to play very good. Then, when I was young, eight or nine years old, ten years old, I just want to be like my father.
Wherever you go, there are three icons that everyone knows: Jesus Christ, Pele and Coca-Cola.
A penalty is a cowardly way to score.
Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.
Brazil eats, sleeps and drinks football. It lives football!
I was really proud that I was named after Thomas Edison and wanted to be called Edson. I thought Pele sounded horrible. It was a rubbish name. Edson sounded so much more serious and important.
The bicycle kick is not easy to do. I scored 1,283 goals, and only two or three were bicycle kicks.
Lionel Messi is a wonderful player. Very skillful. Highly intelligent. He is not good in the air.
If I pass away one day, I am happy because I tried to do my best. My sport allowed me to do so much because it's the biggest sport in the world.
You must respect people and work hard to be in shape. And I used to train very hard. When the others players went to the beach after training, I was there kicking the ball.
The World Cup is a very important way to measure the good players, and the great ones. It is a test of a great player.
Sport is something that is very inspirational for young people.
When I was minister of sport in Brazil, I tried to bring in a law that would make the chairmen of clubs reveal their accounts like other businesses. It was turned down, but I think it is an important story that will make a good film.
Over the years I've learnt to live with two persons in my heart. One is Edson, who has fun with his friends and family; the other is the football player Pele. I didn't want the name. 'Pele' sounds like baby-talk in Portuguese.
The World Cup is a very complicated tournament - six games, seven if you make it to the final - and maybe if you lose one game you're out, even if you're the best.
Pele doesn't die. Pele will never die. Pele is going to go on for ever.
Everything on earth is a game. A passing thing. We all end up dead. We all end up the same, don't we?
Everybody knows my life. I won a lot of tournaments and scored more than 1,000 goals, won three World Cups but I could not play in Olympic Games.
Everything is practice.
I played for Santos at 16, and we had an excellent team, so it helped a lot. And then I played for Brazil at the Maracana against Argentina. So I get more experience. This was one year before the World Cup, and it made a lot of difference.
At 17, I already had responsibility because I took care of my family, but in the football I was young; I wasn't experienced or the captain - I was just in the team.
When I retired, at that time I had a lot of proposals to play in Europe, England, Italy, Spain, Mexico. But I said no, after 18 years I want to rest, because I want to retire.
When you play against dirty players or very tough players, it's easy to escape because you know what they're going to do. But when the player is tough but intelligent, it's much more difficult.
The first World Cup I remember was in the 1950 when I was 9 or 10 years old. My father was a soccer player, and there was a big party, and when Brazil lost to Uruguay, I saw my father crying.
I am constantly being asked about individuals. The only way to win is as a team. Football is not about one or two or three star players.
A lot of people, when a guy scores a lot of goals, think, 'He's a great player', because a goal is very important, but a great player is a player who can do everything on the field. He can do assists, encourage his colleagues, give them confidence to go forward. It is someone who, when a team does not do well, becomes one of the leaders.
I don't think I'm a very good businessman. I act too much with my heart.
I always think that I would have become an actor if I hadn't been a soccer player.
Yes, I have a lot of business interests. But I don't work for just anyone, and I choose the companies very carefully.
I represent Brazil all over the world. Wherever I go I have to do my best, to not disappoint the Brazilian people. And that I've done.
The bicycle kick is not easy to do.
When I was a footballer, I surrounded myself with footballers. We were all friends. But in Brasilia you don't know who your friends are. It can be a dangerous place.
Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string.
I've come to accept that the life of a frontrunner is a hard one, that he will suffer more injuries than most men and that many of these injuries will not be accidental.
