Pelé memorabilia brings in 4.4 million euros at auction

The three-day auction of memorabilia belonging to world football icon Pelé ended in London on Thursday with the artefacts sold for the princely total of £3.4 million ($5 million, 4.4 million euros).

World Cup medal proves the highlight

The final day of the event - held in London but under the banner of Los Angeles-based auction house Julien's - was lit up by the sale of the 75-year-old Brazilian's third and final World Cup winners' medal from 1970, which fetched £346,000.

To put that price into context, the ones from 1958, when he was just a teenager, and 1962 had sold collectively on Wednesday for £340,000.

"It was a white glove auction where 100% of all the lots sold," Darren Julien, Chief Executive of Julien's auctions told AFP.

Julien's had extra reason to be happy as they had placed an original total estimate of £3 million on the memorabilia.

Another Pelé item to make big money on Thursday was his 1000th game crown, which eventually went for £162,000.

Wednesday's auction had seen the most money shelled out on a replica of the Jules Rimet trophy made for Pelé after his third World Cup success, which raised £395,000. That was bought by Swiss watchmaking giant Hublot.

For those with shallower pockets there were things to be had.

Pelé's football boots that he sported in the film Escape To Victory - which featured actors of the calibre of Michael Caine mixed in with footballers like England's World Cup-winning skipper Bobby Moore - went for just over £8,000.

For a good cause

A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to help Pequeno Principe, the largest children's hospital in Brazil, which Pelé said was close to his heart.

Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé is held by many as being the greatest footballer in history.

He scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 matches, appeared 91 times for Brazil between 1957 and 1971 and played his club football for Brazil's FC Santos as well as the New York Cosmos.