Pele. Legend of football. The King

On December 10, the world marks Football Day, which is not an official, but a traditional holiday. One of the biggest international football stars is Pele (All photos: Splash/All Over Press)

In 1999, he was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) (All photos: Splash/All Over Press)

In 1999, Pelé was elected Athlete of the Century by the IOC, and Time named him in their list of 100 most influential people of the 20th century (All photos: Splash/All Over Press)

Pelé is the most successful league goal scorer in the world, with 541 league goals (All photos: Splash/All Over Press)

In total Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 games, including unofficial friendlies and tour games, for which he was listed in the Guinness World Records for most career goals scored in football (All photos: Splash/All Over Press)

During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the best-paid athlete in the world (All photos: Splash/All Over Press)

In his native Brazil, he is hailed as a national hero, for his accomplishments in football, and for his vocal support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor (All photos: Splash/All Over Press)

In 1961, Brazil President Jânio Quadros had Pelé declared a national treasure (All photos: Splash/All Over Press)

During his career, he became known as "The Black Pearl" (Pérola Negra), "The King of Football" (O Rei do Futebol), "The King Pelé" (O Rei Pelé) or simply "The King"  (All photos: Splash/All Over Press)