“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.” – Pelé
“Everything is practice.” – Pelé
“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.” – Pelé
“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.” – Pelé
“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.” – Pelé
“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.” – Pelé
“Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string.” – Pelé
“Lionel Messi is a wonderful player. Very skillful. Highly intelligent. He is not good in the air.” – Pelé
“At 17, I already had responsibility because I took care of my family, but in the football I was young; I wasn’t experienced or the captain – I was just in the team.” – Pelé
“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.” – Pelé
“All my life I thank God. My family was very religious.” – Pelé
“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.” – Pelé
“I always think that I would have become an actor if I hadn’t been a soccer player.” – Pelé
“A penalty is a cowardly way to score.” – Pelé
“Sport is something that is very inspirational for young people.” – Pelé
