Pelé impressed Santos coach Lula during his 1956 trial.
Waldemar de Brito took the 15-year-old Pelé to Santos and presented him to the club as a future great. During the trial at Santos’s Vila Belmiro stadium, Pelé made a strong impression on Lula, whose full name was Luís Alonso Pérez. Santos subsequently signed the teenager to a professional contract in June 1956.
Pelé’s first senior appearance for Santos followed on 7 September 1956 against Corinthians de Santo André. Santos won 7–1, and Pelé scored the first goal of his senior career. He soon became a regular and emerged as one of the most prolific scorers in Brazilian football.
A common mix-up is to associate his early rise with Brazil national-team coaches such as Vicente Feola. Feola coached Brazil, including at the 1958 World Cup, but Lula was the Santos coach who evaluated Pelé during the decisive 1956 trial.