The Masters over-50 fraternity of Guyana will celebrate the 79th birth anniversary of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, globally adored as ‘King Pele’ with an exhibition match between traditional rivals Pele and Santos today at the Georgetown Football Club [GFC], Bourda.
The match, which is set to commence at 18:30hrs, will be another chapter in the long standing rivalry of the clubs, who are synonymous with the global icon locally.
Among the members to don the famous white jersey of Santos include Conrad Parris, Lloyd Smith, Allan LaRose and Malcom Dawson. On the other hand, Pele will feature the likes of Gordon `Ultimate Warrior’ Brathwaite, Vibert `Durdy’ Butts, Herbert Pellew, Michael Pedro and Royston Erskine.
One of the main sponsors of the event is Flashback 20/20. The official of the match will be Colin ‘BL’ Aaron.
Born in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Pele is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
In 1999, he was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century award [alongside Diego Maradona].
Pelé was also elected Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee in the same year.
According to the IFFHS, Pelé is the most successful domestic league goal-scorer in football history scoring 650 goals in 694 matches. In total, the mercurial forward has recorded 1281 goals in 1363 games, which includes unofficial friendlies and is a Guinness World Record.
Pelé began playing for Santos at age 15 and the Brazil national team at 16. During his international career, he won three FIFA World Cups in 1958, 1962 and 1970, a feat that is unmatched.
Pelé is also the all-time leading goal-scorer for Brazil with 77 goals in 92 appearances. At club level, he is the record goal-scorer for Santos with 619 conversions in 638 games, and led them to the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores titles.
