For a dozen years or more, no man was so revered throughout the world as Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known to his fans as Pelé. Only Babe Ruth, Elvis Presley and Michael Jordan ever came close to the god-like reverence in which he was held and their spheres of influence did not reach as far and wide as the brilliant Brazilian’s. Only Wayne Gretzky, in the sport of hockey, has rewritten the record books to the same extent as Pelé did in soccer. His world-wide impact transcended national boundaries and race and class barriers. The Shah of Iran, when at the peak of his power, waited patiently for three hours to have his picture taken with Pelé. When Pelé visited Pope Paul VI, the Italian newspapers reported that the Pope declared that he was more nervous of meeting Pelé than was the soccer superstar at meeting him. Queen Elizabeth II conferred an honorary knighthood on Pelé, the highest honor granted by British royalty. Pelé even engaged in an impromptu soccer kickabout in a photo op with then President of the United States, Bill Clinton.
Who is this athlete from a poor Brazilian village who rose from the depths of poverty to the highest pinnacle of the rich, the famous and the powerful? Though he possessed most of the winning characteristics described in the other chapters of this book, his most conspicuous talent was his ability to achieve a total focus by tapping into his instincts. These psychological elements contributed to Pelé’s supernatural success in soccer.
Pelé’s uncanny ability to sense the positions of all his teammates and his opponents enabled him to identify a scoring opportunity and execute the “killer” action in a flash. In a post-game interview, he recaptured what went through his mind during an intense moment of that crucial game, “Intuitively, at any instant, I knew the position of all the other players on the field, and saw just what each man was going to do next.” Functioning in a state of relaxed concentration, Pelé was able to achieve an intense focus that gave free rein to his instincts. This remarkable ability earned him the title Footballer of the Millennium at the World Sports Awards of the Century ceremonies in Vienna in the year 2000.
