Pelé (footballer, born 1987)

Pelé
Personal information
Full name Vítor Hugo Gomes Passos
Date of birth (1987-09-14) 14 September 1987
Place of birth Porto, Portugal
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Eskilstuna
Number 4
Youth career
1992–2002 Boavista
2002–2004 Salgueiros
2005 Benfica
2006 Vitória Guimarães
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2005 Salgueiros 38 (3)
2006–2007 Vitória Guimarães 9 (0)
2007–2008 Inter Milan 15 (0)
2008–2010 Porto 2 (0)
2009 → Portsmouth (loan) 0 (0)
2009–2010 → Valladolid (loan) 23 (0)
2010–2013 Eskişehirspor 41 (3)
2013 Ergotelis 12 (3)
2014–2015 Olympiacos 5 (0)
2015 → Levadiakos (loan) 10 (1)
2015–2017 Anorthosis 36 (7)
2018– Eskilstuna 0 (0)
National team
2007 Portugal U20 12 (0)
2007–2009 Portugal U21 12 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 July 2018

Vítor Hugo Gomes Passos (born 14 September 1987), known as Pelé, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Swedish club AFC Eskilstuna as a central midfielder.

Club career

Early years

Pelé started playing at the youth teams of Boavista FC, then switched to S.C. Salgueiros also in his hometown of Porto. The financial crisis of the latter club eventually led to the administrative descent to the second division; subsequently, the prohibition of signing professional players led to almost every player in the squad leaving.

In the 2004–05 season, Salgueiros' senior squad was constituted primarily of 16 and 17-year-old youth players, including Pelé. Despite winning only one game and drawing other two games during the entire campaign, his performances caught attention.

Along with teammate Joel, Pelé signed for S.L. Benfica in a controversial free transfer, as the players were to move to Boavista which was willing to financially help Salgueiros. Instead, Benfica signed the players and the Paranhos side didn't receive any compensation.[1][2]

Professional

Pelé joined Benfica B for 2005–06, but did not manage to play regularly, leaving in December 2005 to sign for Vitória S.C. in Guimarães.[3] At start of the following campaign, with the club playing in the second level for the first time in decades, he was a regular on the first team, but a poor start for the team and a managerial change led him to the bench more often, as he finished the season with 11 league appearances and Guimarães achieved promotion to the Primeira Liga.[4]

Pelé was signed by Inter Milan in August 2007 for €1.5 million,[5] penning a five-year contract.[6] He played his first official match against U.C. Sampdoria on 26 September, in the Serie A, and made his first start against S.S. Lazio on 5 December, due to midfielders Patrick Vieira, Dejan Stanković, Luís Figo and Olivier Dacourt all being unavailable because of injuries.

Pelé scored his first goal for Inter on 7 May 2008, in a 2–0 away win over Lazio for the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia (also aggregate).[7] He also found the net in the decisive match against A.S. Roma – from a brilliant long-range volley – but in a 1–2 defeat.[8]

On the last day of the 2007 summer transfer window, Pelé was transferred to FC Porto in an exchange involving Ricardo Quaresma and cash €18.6 million – Pelé himself was tagged as €6M.[9] On 26 January 2009, however, after playing almost no part in Jesualdo Ferreira's plans during the season,[10] he was transferred to Portsmouth in the Premier League on a season-long deal with option to buy at the end.[11]

On 10 June 2009, after no appearances for Pompey, Pelé returned to Italy, having a medical check at Genoa C.F.C. to finalize the transfer, but the deal fell through.[12] On 20 July he was loaned out to Spain's Real Valladolid on a season-long loan, with a buyout clause to make the move permanent;[13] after slow beginnings, he eventually finished as a starter due to injury to incumbent Álvaro Rubio, but the Castile and León side was relegated from La Liga after a three-year stay.

In July 2010, Pelé moved to Eskisehirspor in the Turkish Süper Lig, on a three-year contract.[14] He moved teams and countries again after it expired, joining Ergotelis F.C. from Greece for two years.[15]

On 30 December 2013, Pelé agreed to a three-and-a-half-year deal with fellow Superleague Greece side Olympiacos FC.[16] Late into the January 2015 transfer window, after only nine competitive appearances, he was loaned to Levadiakos F.C. also in the country's top flight.[17]

On 31 August 2015, Pelé was released by Olympiakos and signed a two-year contract with Anorthosis Famagusta FC for an undisclosed fee.[18] On 23 July 2018, after one year without a club, the 30-year-old joined AFC Eskilstuna in the Swedish Superettan.[19]

International career

Pelé was called up on several occasions to the Portuguese under-20 team, playing in the 2007 Toulon Tournament and in that year's FIFA World Cup. Shortly after, he began playing for the under-21s.

Club statistics

As of 7 November 2015
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Salgueiros 2004–05[20] Second Division 38310—393
Vitória Guimarães 2006–07[20] Segunda Liga 9000—90
Inter Milan 2007–08[21] Serie A 150001[lower-alpha 1]0160
Porto 2008–09[20] Primeira Liga 20302[lower-alpha 1]070
Portsmouth (loan) 2008–09[21] Premier League 0000—00
Valladolid (loan) 2009–10[21] La Liga 23020—250
Eskişehirspor 2010–11[21] Süper Lig 19110—201
2011–12[21] Süper Lig 16131—192
Ergotelis 2013–14[21] Superleague Greece 12320—143
Olympiacos 2013–14[21] Superleague Greece 5020—70
2014–15[21] Superleague Greece 0020—20
Levadiakos 2014–15[21] Superleague Greece 10100—101
Anorthosis 2014–15[21] Cypriot First Division 7200—72
Career total 156111613017512
  1. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours

Inter

Porto

Olympiacos

References

  1. ↑ "Pelé reforça xadrez" [Pelé strengthens chequereds]. Record (in Portuguese). 4 June 2005. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Salgueiros acusa encarnados de "atitude inqualificável"" [Salgueiros accuse reds of "unspeakable attitude"]. Record (in Portuguese). 9 June 2005. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "Pelé vai fazer pré-temporada com o plantel" [Pelé will be in squad for pre-season]. Record (in Portuguese). 15 May 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  4. ↑ "Pelé de Guimarães" [Pelé of Guimarães]. Record (in Portuguese). 19 October 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  5. ↑ FC Internazionale Milano 2007–08 bilancio, Require purchase in CCIAA (in Italian)
  6. ↑ "Pelé signs for Inter". Inter Milan. 28 August 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  7. ↑ "Inter in finale col minimo sforzo – Espulsi Mancini e Materazzi" [Inter hardly broke a sweat to reach final – Mancini and Materazzi sent off]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 7 May 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  8. ↑ "La Coppa Italia è giallorossa – "Rivincita" della Roma sull'Inter" [The Italian Cup is yellow-and-red – Roma "payback" to Inter]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 24 May 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  9. ↑ "Report and consolidated accounts 2007/08 Futebol Clube do Porto – Futebol, S.A.D." (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2010. ; FC Porto, 31 August 2007
  10. ↑ "Pelé foi emprestado porque "estava tapado", diz Jesualdo" [Pelé was loaned because "he was blocked", says Jesualdo]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 27 January 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  11. ↑ "Portsmouth sign Mullins and Pele". BBC Sport. 26 January 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2009.
  12. ↑ "Il Vecchio Balordo trova il suo Pelé" [The Old Fool finds his Pelé] (in Italian). Genoa C.F.C. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  13. ↑ "Pelé completará el centro del campo" [Pelé to finish midfield] (in Spanish). Real Valladolid. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  14. ↑ "Pelé ruma ao Eskisehirspor" [Pelé heads for Eskisehirspor]. Record (in Portuguese). 10 July 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Ο Πελέ του Εργοτέλη!" [Pelé to Ergotelis!] (in Greek). Gazzetta. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  16. ↑ Στον Ολυμπιακό ο Πελέ [Pelé to Olympiacos] (in Greek). Olympiacos F.C. 30 December 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  17. ↑ Στον Λεβαδειακό ο Πελέ [Pelé to Levadiakos] (in Greek). Sport 24. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  18. ↑ Για δυο χρόνια στην Ανόρθωση ο Πελέ [Pelé to Anorthosis for two years] (in Greek). Sport 24. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  19. ↑ Pressmeddelande: Portugis klar för AFC [Press release: Portuguese signs with AFC] (in Swedish). AFC Eskilstuna. 23 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  20. 1 2 3 "Pelé". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Pelé". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
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