Soccer King `Black Pearl’ turns 60 but insists that he’s not

Pele guarantees that with a little bit of training, he could still play in the National team. But “to play the full 45 minutes, perhaps I wouldn’t be able to,” he conceded.

The humour and cropped haircut has remained the same over the decades, and so have his eating habits Pele says he regularly eats red meat, occasionally with a shot of whisky.

In 1969, Pele brought Rio’s Maracana stadium to a frenzy when he scored his 1,000th career goal on a penalty shot.

Many call him the “God” of soccer. In Brazil, he is still referred to as “the immortal,” “the legend”.

Last year, the World’s National Olympic committees voted Pele the Athlete of the Century even though he didn’t participate in any Olympics. He helped Brazil win World Cup championships in 1958, 1962 and 1970.

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once wrote about Pele: “He stepped over the line of superstar to become a myth who makes life more noble and touches the heart of all of us who love soccer.”

Pele learned to play soccer barefoot, kicking rocks and oranges around on dusty fields in his native Tres Coracoes (“Three Hearts”), a poor south eastern community. He was hired in 1956 by Santos, which he led to several titles. After seeing Brazil’s National team through its years of glory, Pele joined the New York Cosmos in 1975 in hopes of promoting soccer in the United States.

He played his last professional game in 1977 and has become a prosperous businessman he is the owner of Pele Sports & Marketing and of new Internet venture, pele.net.

As Minister of Sports in 1997 he embarked on a relentless quest to modernise and reorganise Brazil’s archaic soccer by proposing the “Pele Law.”The law, which recently had many of its articles amended and its essence gutted, aimed at forcing soccer teams long considered non profit social associations to become businesses in hopes to turn amateurish outfits into efficient, modern corporations.

But his career as National role model has had its rough patches.Sandra Machado Arantes do Nascimento, whom Pele failed to publicly recognise as his daughter until DNA tests confirmed the paternity, filed a lawsuit against him.

And last month, a congressional commission investigating allegations of tax evasion and other misconduct by players, coaches and soccer officials, pointed to Pele as one of its targets.

Pele has denied any wrong doing.He says his goal for the next decade will be to dedicate more time to his children: son Edinho and 4-year-old twins, Joshua and Celeste.Thinking back on his 60 years, Pele says: “I wouldn’t change a thing.”