Robinho

Like the other superstars of Brazil, Robinho has been compared with Brazil's legend. He is maybe the new Pelé!

He was born in Parque Bitaru, a poor neighborhood of São Vicente. He began playing football (soccer) early. At six, he was signed to the Beira-Mar, a local escolinha. He and his team took the championship in his first year. Whilst playing at the Beira-Mar, Robinho was claimed to look just like his teammate Marcelo, and the spanish fans called them "the twins".
In 1993, at the age of nine, Robinho drew attention by scoring 73 goals for the Portuários futsal team. Robinho joined the Santos youth program, which at the time was overseen by Brazilian football legend Pelé. Pelé brought Robinho into the Santos FC youth dorms, where he received his first regular schedule of three meals a day.
Like many talented young Brazilian footballers, Robinho has been compared to his nation's great players by both fans and the sports media. Robinho's footwork and mercurial speed has many believing that he can carry on the mantle of Pelé, Garrincha and Romario in Brazilian football.
As of late, fans have also begun to foment a potential rivalry between Robinho and Argentinian striker Lionel Messi, who has been hailed as a wonderkid in football, and therefore a natural counterpart to Robinho. Contrasts between the two include the fact that they each represent rival Latin American football powerhouses (Brazil and Argentina); they play opposite each other in the premiere rival clubs of La Liga (Robinho for Real Madrid and Messi for FC Barcelona); and interestingly, there are the comparisons to the greatest living footballers in the world (Messi has been hailed by Argentinian fans and media as "the new Maradona" and Robinho with Pelé). He has never gone on record to say his club football desires, yet there has been speculation that he would like to go to either Italy or England in the future.

Real Madrid
25 January 1984
Source: Wikipedia