PHOTO: TT News Agency
Football icon Pelé is dead.
He was rated by many as the best soccer player of all time, and has won three World Cup titles with Brazil, among other things.
Pelé turned 82 years old and fell asleep today, reports the news agency AP.
It was at the end of November that Pele was admitted to hospital. He had surgery to remove a tumor in the right part of his colon last year, and now in December he was also diagnosed with a respiratory infection. Since then the condition worsened, and last week there were reports that the cancer he was being treated for had spread.
Pelé has passed away
Pelé was also treated for heart and kidney failure. Shortly after the hospital he was treated at released the information, his daughters were notified Kelly Nascimento and Flavia Arantes that their father would not be able to celebrate Christmas at home with the family without having to stay in the hospital.
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“Our Christmas has been cancelled. Together with the doctors, we have decided that for various reasons it is better for us to stay here with all the care his family at Einstein (hospital) gives us,” the daughters announced at the time.
Now comes the sad news that Pelé has died at the hospital in São Paolo, reports the news agency AP. The Brazilian was 82 years old.
READ MORE: The giant Pelé selects Sweden’s best player of all time: “I wish I had played in his team”
Celebrated during the WC
Pelé is classified by many as the best soccer player of all time. He won World Cup gold with Brazil in 1958, where he had his big breakthrough. Just 17 years old, he scored two goals in the final against Sweden and ensured that the WC gold ended up in Brazil. He was also involved in winning in 1962 and 1970 and accounted for a total of 77 goals in 92 games in the national team shirt.
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During the World Cup in Qatar, he was celebrated by the Brazilian national team after being hospitalized, when the players held up a large banner with Pelé’s name and a picture of him.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, is now mourned by an entire sports world. Rest in peace!
READ MORE: When Pelé returned after the World Cup gold – and was completely outplayed by Swedish cultists: “He was completely without a chance”