November 19, 1969: Pelé scores the 1,000th goal of his professional soccer career, the greatest career that any player has ever had.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento grew up in Bauru, in the Brazilian State of São Paulo. Like his father, and most other Brazilian "futebol" players, he became known by a single name. Often it's the player's first name, but it would not be "Edson" by which he would be known. Nor would it be "Dico," which his family had called him.
As a boy, his favorite player was a goalkeeper for Rio de Janeiro team Vasco da Gama, known as Bilé. But in his accent, "Bee-LAY" became "Peh-LAY." The more he was called "Pelé," the more he complained, and the more it stuck. While the Hebrew word for "miracle" is pronounced "Peh-LAY," the word "Pelé" has no known meaning in Brazil's main language, Portuguese.
In 1956, only 15 years old, he was signed to Santos Futebol Clube of Santos, an industrial and port city near the city of São Paulo.
He remained with Santos for 18 years, as the club refused all offers from the giants of South American, and eventually European, football. He helped them win the Campeonato Paulista, the State Championship, 10 times. He helped them win the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the National Championship, 6 times, including 5 in a row from 1961 to 1965.
He helped them win back-to-back titles in the Copa Libertadores, the South American continental club championship. Each time, they beat the winners of the European Cup to win the Intercontinental Cup (now called the FIFA Club World Cup): Benfica of Lisbon, Portugal, featuring Eusébio, in 1962; and AC Milan of Italy, featuring Gianni Rivera, in 1963. (Like Pelé, Eusébio, a native of the African nation of Mozambique, then a colony of Portugal, is the greatest player his continent has ever produced. Also like Pelé, he was nicknamed "The Black Pearl.")
He helped the Brazil national team win the World Cup in 1958, only 17 years old, and again in 1962. Although he had been heavily fouled in the 1966 edition, resulting in Brazil's knockout in the Group Stage, he continued to rise in popularity, mainly due to the world tours taken by Santos. Essentially, the ability to show Pelé around the world kept Santos in business.
On November 19, 1969, still only 29 years old, he led Santos into Brazil's national stadium, the Estadio Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, to play Vasco da Gama. In all competitions to that point, he had been credited with 999 goals. Since this game featured one of the big clubs in the biggest city, against the man known as O Rei (The King), it was nationally televised.
He thought he had his 1,000th goal when he was brought down in the penalty area. "It had to be a penalty," he said later. "It had to come when the whole world could stop, and not miss it." He got it, and a crowd of 125,000 in the gigantic stadium erupted in cheers, enough of them rushing the pitch that the game could not continue. (With renovations, including being made all-seater, it now has a capacity of 78,838.)
He would lead Brazil to the World Cup again in 1970, making him the tournament's only 3-time winner. In 1975, he was brought to America to play for the New York Cosmos, leading them to the North American Soccer League Championship in 1977, his last season.
Pelé finished his career claiming 1,283 goals in all competitions. FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, refusing to count friendlies, credits him with 757. For comparison's sake, see his 2 current challengers for the title of "Greatest Of All Time": Cristiano Ronaldo is credited with 816, Lionel Messi with 782. Diego Maradona, the other major contender for the title, had "only" 446 for Argentina and his clubs combined.
But those 3, between them, are 1-for-12 in World Cups, the 1 being Maradona's in 1986, and, more blatantly than Crissy or Messi ever did, he cheated. Pelé was 3-for-4. Maradona? Messi? Throw in
Alfredo di Stéfano, and it's possible that neither one of them is even the best Argentine player ever. Cristiano? He's not even the best Ronaldo to have played for Real Madrid in the 21st Century.
These kids today, they don't know: Pelé is the greatest. It's why the Brazilians call him O Rei: The King.
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November 19, 1969 was a Wednesday. The baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. There were 5 games played in the NBA that night:
* The Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls, 122-106 at the Boston Garden.
* The San Diego Rockets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 125-116 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. (The Rockets moved to Houston in 1971.)
* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Phoenix Suns, 133-118 at the Baltimore Civic Center. (It's now named the Royal Farms Arena. The Bullets moved to Washington in 1973, and became the Washington Wizards in 1997.)
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 116-103 at the Cincinnati Gardens. (The Royals became the Kansas City Kings in 1972, and the Sacramento Kings in 1985.)
* And the Atlanta Hawks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 137-116 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. (The Sonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008.)
There were 2 games played in the American Basketball Association. The New York Nets beat the Miami Floridians, 115-110 at the Island Garden in Hempstead. And the New Orleans Buccaneers beat the Washington Capitols, 122-115 at the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium.
There were 5 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers played the Chicago Black Hawks to a tie, 1-1 at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings played to a tie, 5-5 at the Montreal Forum.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 4-4 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-0 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Oakland Seals beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* And the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers were not scheduled to play.