Sao Paulo, Dec 29 (EFE)
The Brazilian Edson Arantes do Nascimento ‘Pelé’, considered by many the best soccer player of all time, died this Thursday at the age of 82, due to complications from cancer he suffered.
Pelé passed away surrounded by several of his children and grandchildren, who spent Christmas with himad at the Sao Paulo hospital where he had been admitted since last November 29.
“Everything we are is thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace, “said her daughter Kely Nascimento on Instagram, accompanying a photograph with the intertwined hands of the children of the” king “of soccer, who this Thursday completed a month in hospital.
The former soccer player underwent surgery for colon cancer in September 2021, which was diagnosed at that time, and which caused metastasis.
The triple world champion was hospitalized on November 29 to evaluate a change in chemotherapy treatment, which was not having the desired effect by the doctors.
Days later, the hospital reported that he was also being treated for a respiratory infection that, according to his daughters, he suffered as a result of a covid-19 infection.
Despite his hospitalization, Pelé has maintained intense activity on his social networks, especially during the World Cup in Qatar, in which he expressed his support for the players of the Brazilian team, after the painful elimination against Croatia in the quarterfinals. .
AN UNRIVALED CAREER
Until today the greatest idol of the country of soccer, Pelé is the only active or retired player who has won three soccer World Cups, those of 1958, 1962 and 1970.
The striker spent practically his entire career with Santos, a club from the Sao Paulo coast with which he won 48 titles, including two Copa Libertadores, before emigrating to the New York Cosmos, a brief period at the end of his career in the who tried to popularize soccer in that country.
The eternal ’10’ scored 1,283 goals throughout his professional career, which has earned him a Guinness award, including 757 goals in official matches, the only ones recognized by FIFA.
With the Canarinha he has scored 95 goals, 77 of them in matches against other national teams, this latest record only equaled in Brazil by Neymar.
For these achievements, Pelé was chosen by FIFA as the best player of the 20th century, while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) named him the best athlete of the century, in a vote carried out by the national committees in 1999.
Born in Tres Coraçoes, Minas Gerais, in 1940, Pelé started playing for Santos at the age of 15 and made his debut for the Brazil national soccer team at 16.
His advanced style of play for his time and his spectacular goals made him a star all over the world, taking his club, Santos, on international tours, through America, Europe and Africa to face the best teams and national teams in the world. world.
He retired from soccer in 1977 and became a global soccer ambassador.
He also made a brief foray into politics and became the first sports minister in Brazil’s history, from 1995 to 1998, and during his tenure he promoted the law that regulates player transfers. EFE
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