The great Pele, possibly the greatest football player of all time turns 72 today. He was born Edison Arantes do Nascimento. He was named for Thomas Edison. Pele is a nickname. Pele is the most successful league scorer in history with 511 goals. Overall his total was amazing- in 1363 games he scored 1281 goals. He played for Santos from 1956-74. Then he came to America and played for the New York Cosmos from 1975-77. Pele coming to play in America was the biggest thing to ever happen in soccer history in America. He is also the only player to play for 3 World Cup Championship teams.