Pele

I always think that I would have become an actor if I hadn't been a soccer player.

Wherever you go, there are three icons that everyone knows: Jesus Christ, Pele and Coca-Cola.

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.

Edson is the person that supports Pele. Edson is the base. Pele just comes and adds the face.

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 bicycle kick is not easy to do.

Great teams are not made up of many well rounded players. Great teams are made up of a variety of players each having their own strengths.

When you are young, you do a lot of stupid things.

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.'

All my life I thank God. My family was very religious.

I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'born' soccer player. Perhaps you are born with certain skills and talents, but quite frankly it seems impossible to me that one is actually born to be an ace soccer player.

I don't think I'm a very good businessman. I act too much with my heart.

The bicycle kick is not easy to do. I scored 1,283 goals, and only two or three were bicycle kicks.

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.

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.

Everything is practice.

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.

Everything on earth is a game. A passing thing. We all end up dead. We all end up the same, don't we?

The level of football in England is the top. English football is the leader in the world.

When you control the ball you control the score.

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.

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.

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.

The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.

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.

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.

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.

Football is the only sport where you put people together, it doesn't matter if you are rich, or poor, or black, or white. It is one nation. This is the beauty of football.

Brazil eats sleeps and drinks football. It lives football

A team is not made up of isolated individuals. Always stay in the game. Don't be passive. Football is a team game. No one plays alone. Success depends on your whole team being a single unit.

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.

Brazil is crazy about football. People they wait for this moment but this doesnt mean we are going to win the championship. That is the problem.

If you don't give education to people, it is easy to manipulate them.

No individual can win a game by himself.

To be a striker you need to be in good shape.

Brazil eats, sleeps and drinks football. It lives football!

A penalty is a cowardly way to score.

Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string.