CELEBRITY
How Pele transformed soccer minnows Santos into a world great
Santos had won trophies before Pele signed, but his arrival prompted a long and sensational run of victories that over little more than a decade turned the medium-sized Brazilian club into one of the greatest names in world football.
Pele arrived in Santos in 1956, wearing long pants for the first time in his life and accompanied by his father and the scout who spotted him.
The transformation was quick for both him and his new club.
Santos had won the Sao Paulo state championship before but with Pele in the team they embarked on a glorious run of 10 more state titles and six Brazilian championships.
They also lifted the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent of the Champions League, in 1962 and 1963, and the same years won the Intercontinental Cup, the trophy between the best teams in Europe and South America.
In those spectacular 24 months, Santos played in nine tournaments and won eight of them, only losing the 1962 Sao Paulo state championship to Palmeiras because their schedule was so packed they had to play reserves in some matches.
PROVINCIAL CITY
Before Pele’s arrival, Santos was a minnow, unlikely to compete with the biggest clubs in Brazil, never mind beat European giants like Real Madrid, Benfica and AC Milan.
Hailing from a provincial coastal city, they were overshadowed in Sao Paulo state by teams like Corinthians, Palmeiras, Portuguesa and Sao Paulo.
In Rio de Janeiro, the other centre of Brazilian football, big teams such as Botafogo, with Garrincha and Jairzinho in their side, were dominant.
The cities of Rio and Sao Paulo boasted populations in the millions while Santos was a small city of 265,000, meaning the club had smaller crowds and less money.
But with Pele in the side, Santos punched well above their weight.
His visibility on the international stage – aided by Brazil’s three World Cup wins between 1958 and 1970 – meant teams from all over the planet were willing to pay big money to see him play.
Every year Santos crossed the globe, playing in Sheffield and Shanghai, Barcelona and Benin, and Pele was the star attraction. If he was injured or missing from the line-up their appearance fee was slashed.
He was often forced to play when he wasn’t fully fit because the money they received was the only way for the club to survive – and to ensure Pele was paid what he was worth.
He could have signed for any one of the top European sides – Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Paris St Germain were among those who offered fortunes for his services – but he was happy at Santos, and the Brazilian leagues were every bit as competitive as those across the Atlantic.
His influence was enormous even though foreign audiences saw little of him. Clubs the world over were christened Santos in his honour. Babies took his name. Greek side Olympiakos were so proud of beating Santos they included a reference to it in their club hymn. Real Madrid pulled out of one match, because, Santos historians insist, they were afraid of being beaten.
And those who saw Pele play never forgot it.
“I immediately was mesmerised by this kid Pele,” German film director Werner Herzog said of seeing him in Munich in 1960.
“Santos won 9 to 1. They scored one after the other and I saw something like magic, a kid scoring one goal after the other and doing things on the field that I never thought would be possible. Pure, total magic. And it’s still with me.”
-Reuters
Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.
But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.
Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.
On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.
And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
The League of Wealthy Sportsmen
The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.
And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.
Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.
This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.
In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.
For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.
But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.
Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.
On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.
And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.
And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.
Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.
This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.
In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.
World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2025
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