Pele

“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.”

“I am constantly being asked about individuals. The only way to win is as a team. Football is not about one or two or three star players.”

“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.”

“Brazil eats, sleeps and drinks football. It lives football!”

“The World Cup is a very important way to measure the good players, and the great ones. It is a test of a great player.”

“When I was a footballer, I surrounded myself with footballers. We were all friends. But in Brasilia you don't know who your friends are. It can be a dangerous place.”

“In 1962, my injury wasn't because of violence; I just kicked the ball and it happened. And that was OK because Brazil won; I didn't have any difficulty in accepting that. I still got a medal because I'd played two games.”

“A penalty is a cowardly way to score.”

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

“Edson is the person that supports Pele. Edson is the base. Pele just comes and adds the face.”

“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.'”

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

“The bicycle kick is not easy to do.”

“The World Cup is a very complicated tournament - six games, seven if you make it to the final - and maybe if you lose one game you're out, even if you're the best.”

“Pele doesn't die. Pele will never die. Pele is going to go on for ever.”

“No doubt, I am earning more money with my endorsements than I ever earned playing soccer.”

“You must respect people and work hard to be in shape. And I used to train very hard. When the others players went to the beach after training, I was there kicking the ball.”

“If I pass away one day, I am happy because I tried to do my best. My sport allowed me to do so much because it's the biggest sport in the world.”

“The first World Cup I remember was in the 1950 when I was 9 or 10 years old. My father was a soccer player, and there was a big party, and when Brazil lost to Uruguay, I saw my father crying.”

“Everybody knows my life. I won a lot of tournaments and scored more than 1,000 goals, won three World Cups but I could not play in Olympic Games.”