Was Pele’s son a footballer? Edinho’s strange career and life explored

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Some of the greatest footballers of all-time have come from and spawned incredible footballing families.

Johan Cruyff’s son, Jordi, had a successful career in his own right. Sergio Aguero was Diego Maradona’s son-in-law for a period of time, while it remains to be seen what will come of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s offspring.

Of course, we can’t speak about the Greatest of All Time in football without discussing Pele, and it’s a little known fact that one of Pele’s seven children actually had a professional football career of his own.

Was Pele’s son a footballer?

Pele is the father of seven children, and one of them actually did go on to become a professional footballer.

While his father is arguably the greatest goalscorer of all-time, Edinho’s career took a slightly different path.

Indeed, the son of Pele ended up being a goalkeeper.

Coming through at his father’s beloved Santos, Edinho played over 200 senior games throughout the 1990s.

Sadly though, it seems as though he didn’t inherit all of his father’s greatness. He was only a semi-successful player, and some believe that he only got a chance because of his ancestry.

“I doubt if he wasn’t Pele’s son he’d have gotten an opportunity just like that. He was short for a goalkeeper. Sometimes he could be great, unbeatable; other times it was the opposite. Naturally, he suffered the pressure of being Pele’s son too,” Santos journalist Ted Sartori told Bleacher Report.

Unfortunately, as with many child prodigies, Edinho also had his fair share of controversies.

Edinho was found guilty of manslaughter in 1999 after knocking down a cyclist in his car, and the controversies didn’t stop there.

In 2005 he was arrested on money laundering and drug trafficking charges, serving time in prison between 2017 and 2019.

Between these issues, Edinho actually began to carve out a career in management, taking charge of a number of middling Brazilian sides in the late 2010s.

Pele’s son was a footballer for a short stint, but his life and career was very complicated as he struggled to get to grips with being the son of arguably the most famous player of all-time.