Pele

“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.'”

“Yes, I have a lot of business interests. But I don't work for just anyone, and I choose the companies very carefully.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Sport is something that is very inspirational for young people.”

“All my life I thank God. My family was very religious.”

“Over the years I've learnt to live with two persons in my heart. One is Edson, who has fun with his friends and family; the other is the football player Pele. I didn't want the name. 'Pele' sounds like baby-talk in Portuguese.”

“If you don't give education to people, it is easy to manipulate them.”

“Brazil's always had great players, both at home and abroad, but we need to put all that talent together and mould a team out of it.”