Brazilian football star, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, has di£d at the age of 82.
The former Santos FC star, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, passed away on Thursday, December 29, 2022.
He had been at the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in Sao Paulo since November 29, 2022.
A medical report just before Christmas showed that he needed care for cardiac and renal dysfunction, having been b@ttling colon cancer since September 2021.
A post on his Instagram page reads: “Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pelé, who peacefully passed away today. On his journey, Edson enchanted the world with his genius in sport, stopped a war, carried out social works all over the world and spread what he most believed to be the cure for all our problems: love. His message today becomes a legacy for future generations. Love, love and love, forever.”
Pelé is the only player in football history to have won the World Cup three times — in 1958, 1962 and 1970 — and a committee of experts voted him as the Fifa ‘Player of the Century’ in 2000.
Pelé scored a record 77 goals in 92 international matches for Brazil and, while there is some debate among statisticians about his official career number, the Guinness Books of Records puts his tally in a 21-year senior career at 1,279 goals in 1,363 games.
