Vítor Hugo Gomes Passos (born 14 September 1987), known as Pelé, is a Portuguese former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Early years

Pelé started playing at the youth teams of

Boavista FC Boavista Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Boavista, is a Portuguese professional sports club from the of Porto that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football, at the Estádio do Bessa. It is one of the oldest clubs ...

, then switched to S.C. Salgueiros also in his hometown of

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. The financial crisis of the latter eventually led to the administrative descent to the Segunda Liga; subsequently, the prohibition of signing professional players led to almost every player in the squad leaving. In the 2004–05 season, Salgueiros' senior squad was constituted primarily of 16 and 17-year-old youth players, including Pelé. Despite winning only one game and drawing other two games during the entire campaign, his performances caught attention. Along with teammate Joel, Pelé signed for

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

in a controversial free transfer, as the players were to move to Boavista which was willing to financially help Salgueiros. Instead, Benfica signed the players and the Paranhos club did not receive any compensation.

Vitória Guimarães

Pelé joined Benfica B for 2005–06, but did not manage to play regularly, leaving in December 2005 to sign for

Vitória S.C. Vitória Sport Clube, popularly known as Vitória de Guimarães or sometimes just Vitória, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football, at the Est ...

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...

. At start of the following campaign, with the club playing in the second division for the first time in decades, he was a regular on the first team, but a poor start and a managerial change led him to the bench more often, as he finished the season with 11 league appearances and the team achieved promotion to the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

Inter Milan

In August 2007, Pelé was signed by

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

1.5 million, penning a five-year contract. He made his official debut against

UC Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the List of football club mergers, merg ...

on 26 September in the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, and made his first start against

S.S. Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club'') is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian footba ...

on 5 December, due to midfielders Olivier Dacourt,

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one-t ...

Dejan Stanković Dejan Stanković ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Станковић, , born 11 September 1978) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player. He captained the Serbia national team from 2007 until 2011, when he announced his retirement from ...

and

Patrick Vieira Patrick Paul Vieira (; born 23 June 1976) is a French professional association football, football manager and former player who is the head coach of Serie A club Genoa CFC, Genoa. He was named in the FIFA 100 of the greatest living footballers i ...

all being unavailable because of injuries. Pelé scored his first goal for Inter on 7 May 2008, in a 2–0 away win over Lazio in the semi-finals of the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

(also aggregate). He also found the net in the decisive match – from a brilliant long-range volley – but in a 2–1 defeat to

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

Porto

On the last day of the 2008 summer

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, Pelé was transferred to

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

in an exchange involving

Ricardo Quaresma Ricardo Andrade Quaresma Bernardo (; born 26 September 1983) is a Portuguese former professional association football, footballer who played as a Winger (association football), winger. He began his career at Sporting CP and went on to play for ...

and €18.6 million in cash – Pelé himself was tagged at €6 million. On 26 January 2009, however, after playing almost no part in

Jesualdo Ferreira Manuel Jesualdo Ferreira (born 24 May 1946) is a Portuguese Manager (association football), football manager who last managed Zamalek SC, Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League. In a managerial career of over forty years, he was in charge of all ...

's plans during the season, he was transferred to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

on a one-year loan deal with option to buy at the end. On 10 June 2009, after no games for Pompey, Pelé returned to Italy, having a medical check at

Genoa C.F.C. Genoa Cricket and Football Club () is an Italian professional Association football, football club based in Genoa, Liguria. The team competes in the Serie A, the top division of the Italian football league system. Established in 1893, Genoa is ...

to finalise the transfer, but the deal fell through. On 20 July he was loaned out to Spain's

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long loan, with a

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in an employment contract. It allows the employee to terminate the contract unilaterally upon payment of a specified (usually substantial) fee to the employer. The fee may be paid by the employ ...

to make the move permanent; he eventually finished as a starter due to injury to incumbent

Álvaro Rubio Álvaro Rubio Robles (born 18 April 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, currently a manager. He spent most of his career with Valladolid, appearing in 310 games in all competitions. He also re ...

, but the

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

side were relegated from

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

after a three-year stay.

Later career

In July 2010, Pelé moved to Eskisehirspor in the Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

, on a three-year contract. He moved teams and countries again after it expired, joining

Ergotelis F.C. Ergotelis Football Club () is a Greek professional football club based in Heraklion, Crete, which competes in the FCA Heraklion A1, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system, and hosts its home games at the Pankritio Stadium. Establ ...

from Greece for two years. On 30 December 2013, Pelé agreed to a three-and-a-half-year deal with fellow

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

side

Olympiacos FC Olympiacos Football Club ( ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus. Part of the major multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP (''Olympiakós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós'', "Olymp ...

. Late into the January 2015 transfer window, after only nine competitive appearances, he was loaned to

Levadiakos F.C. Levadiakos Football Club (officially romanized: ''Levadeiakos'' ) is a Greek professional Association football, football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Super League Greece, Alp ...

also in the country's top flight. Pelé was released by Olympiacos on 31 August 2015, and signed a two-year contract with

Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

for an undisclosed fee. On 23 July 2018, after one year of inactivity, the 30-year-old joined

AFC Eskilstuna Athletic Football Club Eskilstuna, also known as AFC Eskilstuna or simply AFC, is a Swedish professional football club based in Eskilstuna. The club has previously been known under the names FC Café Opera and Väsby United before switching owne ...

in the Swedish

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

, leaving at the end of the year with no appearances to his credit and meeting the same fate at his next club, Romania's

FC Dunărea Călărași Asociația Fotbal Club Dunărea 2005 Călărași, commonly known as Dunărea Călărași (), is a Romanian professional football club from the city of Călărași, Călărași County. Founded in 1962, ''Valahii'' currently play in the Liga III, ...

, due to a heart condition that was detected in his medical.

International career

Pelé was called to the Portugal under-20 team on several occasions, playing in the

2007 Toulon Tournament The 2007 Toulon Tournament was the 35th edition of the Toulon Tournament, and was held from 31 May to 9 June. It was won by France national football team, France, after they beat China national under-23 football team, China 3–1 in the final. Res ...

and that year's

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

. Shortly after, he began appearing for the under-21s.

Career statistics

Honours

Inter Milan *

: 2007–08 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Porto *

: 2008–09 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 2008–09 Olympiacos *

: 2013–14

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pele 1987 births Living people Black Portuguese sportspeople 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Porto Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.C. Salgueiros players Vitória S.C. players FC Porto players Serie A players Inter Milan players Portsmouth F.C. players La Liga players Real Valladolid players Süper Lig players Eskişehirspor footballers Super League Greece players Ergotelis F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players Levadiakos F.C. players Cypriot First Division players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players AFC Eskilstuna players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Sweden