Joshua Nascimento

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Seixas and the second or paternal family name is Arantes do Nascimento.

Joshua Seixas Arantes do Nascimento (born 28 September 1996) is a Brazilian former footballer who played as a forward. He is a son of Pelé.

Joshua Nascimento

Personal information
Full name	Joshua Seixas Arantes do Nascimento[1]
Date of birth	(1996-09-28) 28 September 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	São Paulo, Brazil
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
2011–2013	Florida Rush
2013–2015	Santos
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2018	Tampa Spartans	1	(0)

Early and personal life

Nascimento was born to Brazilian gospel singer Assiria Seixas Lemos and Brazilian football legend Pelé.^[2] He has a twin sister named Celeste.^[2]

Footballing career

Early career

At the age of ten, he trained with Santos, the club where his father made his name, for the first time.^[3] He moved to the United States at the age of twelve, and joined the academy side Florida Rush three years later.^[4][5]

He returned to Brazil in 2013, joining Santos on a permanent deal.^[6][7] While at Santos, he refused to wear his father's famous number 10 shirt, and attempted to ignore comparisons between himself and his father, stating "he was him and I am me."^[8] He made his debut for the Santos under-20 side in October 2014.^[9]

Collegiate soccer

Having suffered numerous injuries while at Santos, Nascimento returned to the United States to enroll at the University of Tampa in 2015.^[5] However, his time in Tampa was also marred by injury, and he was redshirted in his first season with the university's soccer team, the Tampa Spartans.^[10] He made one appearance in 2016, but this would be his only playing time until his graduation in 2018.^[10][11]

Later life

Having been raised mostly in the United States, he decided to remain there following his decision not to pursue a career in professional football, and he was named as a representative for Santos in North America in 2020.^[12] He joined the SIMA Pre-Academy, a soccer academy for children, in 2021.^[11] He has also worked as a fitness instructor and soccer coach in soccer academies across Orlando, as well as completing an internship in the Santos academy physiology department.^[11]

Having graduated university with a Bachelor of Science in human performance and exercise physiology, Nascimento had an internship with Belgian football team Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in March 2022, in the hope of working as a physical trainer.^[13][14]

He currently works as a physical trainer at the Soccer Institute of the Montverde Academy.^[14]