Oktanoms on Instagram: "Pelé: The Boy Who Became a Legend In a small Brazilian town called Três Corações, a boy named Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born in 1940. No one knew then that this boy would grow up to become Pelé, the greatest footballer the world had ever seen. From a young age, Pelé was obsessed with football. His family was poor, so he couldn't afford a real ball. Instead, he kicked around a sock stuffed with newspapers or a grapefruit. But what he lacked in equipment, he made up f