Pele (born 1940).
Legendary Pele was called “the Black Pearl”. He was the greatest football player in the history of the game. With a way total of 1280 goals, Pele may have been the world’s most popular athlete after he was named Athlete of the Century by the world’s combined National Olympic Committees in 1999, though he never played in the Olympics himself. He became Brazil’s minister of sports in 1995, serving until 1998.
Cristiano Ronaldo (born 1976).
A great forward, Ronaldo became one of international soccer’s stars of the 1990s and Brazil’s biggest soccer hero since Pele. Nicknamed “The Phenomenon,” the talented forward has played for Cruzeiro, Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan, amassing numerous records, championships, and cups. An international celebrity, he has been on the Brazilian national team since 1994 and was part of World Cup–winning teams in 1998 and in 2002, when Ronaldo was the tourney’s top scorer.
