Pelé

Growing up, I loved soccer, I breathed soccer, I ate soccer, and if you were at all into soccer on any level, then you knew who #10 Pelé was. For me, he was one of my heroes. And if you liked Pelé, then you were a big fan of his skills on the field. My personal favorite photo of Pelé is this one, where he is flawlessly executing a bicycle kick in a 1968 game against Belgium, Brazil won 5-0.

Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento and was given the nickname of Pelé. He played as a forward and has been labeled as the greatest footballer (soccer) by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association).  In his 1,363 lifetime games, he scored 1,279 goals and is a three-time World Cup champion.

He won three World Cup tournaments with Brazil and 10 league titles with Santos, his club team, as well as the 1977 North American Soccer League championship with the New York Cosmos.

Pelé was diagnosed with cancer in September 2021 and passed away on December 29th at the age of 82.