Pelé was only Pelé because before there was the boy Edson

Before the 2003 Copa Libertadores final, between Santos and Boca Juniors, Pelé called the editorial office of a São Paulo newspaper to give an interview. When the reporter, almost without believing that that unmistakable tone was that of the King of Football, asked who it was, the voice on the other end of the line replied:

“It’s Edson”.

Calling himself in the third person and deliberately mixing the figures of Edson and Pelé has always served him as a marketing strategy. One more way to cultivate your own image.

Upon arriving in Santos, in July 1956, at the age of 15, the boy Edson was already called just Pelé by the older players. The nickname Gasolina had stayed in Bauru.

The myth was born with time. But the very athletes who witnessed his early years realize that without Edson’s values ​​and personality there would be no Pelé.

“When he arrived at Santos, they warned that he would be a phenomenon, an out-of-series player. In the first training sessions, he didn’t show that. He was a good player, of course. But other good kids had already gone through that Santos and left”, found defender and coach Chico Formiga, who died in 2012.

Other names of the time, such as Pepe and Urubatão, always cited Pelé’s shyness when performing in Vila Belmiro. An inhibition that reached the point where the boy only spoke when something was asked of him, which can be a setback for someone who needs to express himself not only on the field with the ball at his feet.

Pelé only stayed at Santos because he drew attention in another aspect.

“He was an extremely polite boy. He was incapable of talking back to anyone. It was always ‘good morning’, ‘please’, ‘yes sir’, ‘no sir’, ‘thanks a lot’. conquered many people, and everyone liked him. Of course, it was characteristic of the upbringing he received from his parents”, noted Urubatão in a 2007 statement. The steering wheel died in 2010.

It was the same behavior he showed at Dona Georgina’s boarding house (see photo), on Rua Euclides da Cunha, his first home in the city.

Impressing on the field on that team would be difficult for anyone. Santos in 1956 had been champion of São Paulo the previous year (a title that ended a 20-year streak without conquests) and was on its way to winning the second championship.

For players in that squad, like Helvio and Vasconcelos, the name of the boy Edson did not come to them to ask for passes or throw shots in training. It was just to send him out to buy packs of cigarettes. Which he obeyed without batting an eye.

Edson helped Pelé to gain time to become Pelé. Because, while pleasing more for education and shyness than for football, he became increasingly physically strong. His deficiencies were corrected in long training sessions.

“An example of this is the left leg. When he arrived, Pelé kicked badly with the left. That was when he kicked. He started to train, improve and some time later he was as good with the left as he was with the right”, explains the winger. -Left Pepe.

As is always necessary in life, Edson got lucky sometimes, and that also helped his future alter ego Pelé. There is the legendary story that, a few months after his arrival, when he missed a penalty in a youth game, he even packed his bags to leave and was persuaded to stay.

Athletes of the past dispute this. They remember seeing him very shaken, yes, but not having threatened to return to Bauru, where his family lived.

It is indisputable that soon afterwards the story could have been compromised by coach Lula’s desire to hire wing-back Getúlio, from Jabaquara. Edson was almost involved in an exchange that, perhaps, would change Pelé’s trajectory. Who prevented the negotiation was the journalist Adriano Neiva, De Vaney.

He considered the transaction so absurd that he went to warn president Athiê Jorge Coury that it would be a crime against the country for Santos. The exchange did not take place.

Two years later, that boy would be world champion with the Brazilian national team. Pelé he had already become much bigger than Edson. A name that would only be used by the King of Football to confuse people over the phone.