Jul 17, 2024 - Aug 3, 2024
Born into poverty in Brazil’s southern state of Minas Gerais, Edson Arantes do Nascimento was turn his life around through his sensational ability on the pitch. The football legend known only as Pelé signed his first professional contract in 1956 at the age of 15 with prestigious Brazilian club, Santos FC. The following year, he made his first appearance with the Brazil National Team at age 16. During his prolific international career, Pelé won three FIFA World Cup titles (1958, 1962 and 1970) – the only player ever to do so for his country. He retired as Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 77 goals in 91 caps, and his unfathomable 1,283 career goals in all competitions will never be topped.
We are honored to present to the market this incredibly early Pelé Brazil match worn jersey dating to his 1957 debut season with Seleção. It could be his earliest known Brazil National Team jersey! The white cotton shirt with an open blue collar and ribbed blue sleeve-ends has an early CBD (Confederação Brasileira de Desportos or Brazil Sports Confederation) crest embroidered on the left chest, with his famous number “10” on the back in blue. Tagged by manufacturer Ceppo within the inner collar, no size is listed but it measures to his specifications according to MEARS authentication.
Pelé made his Brazil senior team debut in an international friendly against Argentina at the Maracanã in Rio on July 7, 1957. He scored the only goal for Brazil in a 2-1 loss. Three days later, he scored his second goal in another friendly match vs. Argentina in Sao Paulo, this time helping his team win, 2-0. The shirt shows light to moderate wear with heavy fraying to the back numbers.
The provenance of this shirt is very significant. It was gifted by Pelé to fellow Brazilian superstar, Garrincha, who teamed with Pelé for the 1958 and 1962 World Cup titles. Many forget that Pelé got injured in the second game of the ’62 WC and missed the rest of the tournament in Chile. It was Garrincha who led Seleção to their ’62 FIFA crown. With the two legends on the pitch together, Brazil never lost a match. In 1999, FIFA voted Garrincha seventh on its Player of the Century list. Garrincha eventually passed this shirt down to his daughter, who signed the included letter of provenance. Additional LOA from MEARS.
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