For The Oracle’s first double-digit issue of the volume, we kick the spotlight over to Edson Nascimento. Not sure who that is? It’s actually the birth name of Pelé, the Brazilian soccer superstar who transformed the sport forever while wearing the number 10 on his kit. He played for the Brazilian-based Santos Football Club (FC) from 1956 to 1974. In that span, he scored a whopping 650 goals in 694 games with the club. Even more astoundingly, he scored 101 goals in the 1965 season alone. In his sophomore year with Santos FC at the age of 17, he was recruited to the Brazilian national team and played a major part in their 1958 World Cup win. He won an additional two World Cups in 1962 and 1970.
Pelé retired in 1974, but it didn’t last long as he was lured to sign with the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League (NASL) a year later. His stint with the Cosmos lasted only one season, but his name instantly increased soccer’s popularity in America. “The Black Pearl” retired for good in 1977, still holding the scoring record for both the Brazilian national team and Federacion Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
