Brazilian football legend Pele dies at 82

Brazilian football legend Pele, three-time World Cup winner and considered one of the greatest players of all time, has died. he was 82 years old.

His daughter, Kelly, confirmed his death on social media.

“We are who we are because of you,” she wrote. “We love you forever. Rest in peace.”

Brazil plans a 48-hour state funeral. Pele, whose full name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, will be buried in Santos, southeast of São Paulo, where he played for the city’s clubs from 1956 to 1974.

The club said in a statement that the public will be able to pay their last respects at the Vila Belmiro stadium, according to the Associated Press.

Santos said the star-bearing coffin is expected to leave São Paulo’s Albert Einstein Hospital early Monday morning and be placed in the field’s center circle. The visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Monday and end the next morning, according to the Associated Press. It is followed by a private funeral attended by his family.

Pele has been in and out of the hospital over the past year after battling colon cancer. In November, Albert’s Einstein Hospital announced that his cancer had progressed and he was receiving palliative care.

The hospital confirmed that Pele died of multiple organ failure due to colon cancer at 3:27 pm local time.

The football star was hospitalized in December 2021 shortly after undergoing chemotherapy to treat a reported colon tumor. He posted on Instagram that he was recovering.

Over the past year, Pele has brushed off her own health concerns and continues to thank her fans for their support.

“Dear friends, it’s been a while since we talked about this. I just want to let you know that I’m fine. I’m feeling better every day. Even my mask for my protection is my happiness.” I don’t think I can hide it. Thank you. I am so grateful to all of you who send me good energy every day,” he wrote in an Instagram post in November 2021.

After being named FIFA Co-Player of the Century in 1999 with Argentina’s Diego Maradona, Pele devoted himself to other humanitarian causes as a global ambassador for the sport after retirement. In 2020, when Maradona died, Pele said: “I hope one day we can play football together in the sky.”

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement Thursday: “Pelé had a magical presence and when you were with him the rest of the world stopped.”His life is much more than football. He has changed perceptions of what is better in Brazil, South America and around the world.”

Pele was born on October 23, 1940 in the town of Torres Coracoez, in the state of Minas Gerais in southern Brazil. His parents named him after the American inventor Thomas Edison. Pele’s father, Joao Ramos do Nascimento, nicknamed Dondinho, was also a professional footballer.

In a 2016 column for The Players’ Tribune, young Edson explained that he was nicknamed Pelé when schoolmates mocked his pronunciation of popular Brazilian goalkeeper Bilé at school.

He started playing for Baul’s youth team at the age of 13. He was scouted by Santos at the age of 15 and began playing professionally for the team.

At just 17 years old, he emerged as a superstar with his performance in Brazil’s victorious 1958 World Cup, playing for Santos for his entire Brazilian career. He scored a staggering 618 goals in his 636 games with Santos and won his six Brazilian league titles.

Pele won two World Cup titles in 1962 and 1970. He is the only player to win the World Cup three times in his career and, alongside his teammate Baba, is one of his two players to have scored as a winning team in two World Cup finals. is one of his

He scored 77 goals in 92 international matches. Brazilian forward Neymar set a new national record with his 77th goal in the 2022 World Cup against Croatia, which took place just weeks before Pele’s death.

“Before Pele, football was just a sport. Pele changed it all,” Neymar wrote on social media. “He turned football into an art, an entertainment. He gave a voice to poor blacks and recognition, mostly to Brazil… He’s gone, but his magic remains.”

He ended his storied career with the New York Cosmos in 1977, creating football buzz like never before in the United States. Pioneering Television The club, funded by his executive Stephen Ross, has brought stars such as Pelé, the Italian striker, Giorgio his Chinalia, German defender and Franz his Beckenbauer. Cosmos was the only club Pele played for other than Santos.

His final game on October 1, 1977 was an exhibition game between Cosmos and Santos in front of a sold-out crowd at Giants Stadium. The match was televised on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Pele played half for each team.

“Pele’s name will forever be synonymous with sporting artistry and genius,” Cosmos said in a statement. “His lasting impact on the sport of football is immeasurable. Rest in peace Oh Ray.”

He later appeared alongside Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine in John Huston’s 1981 World War II sports film Escape to Victory.

A biopic about his life, Pelé: Birth of a Legend, was released in 2016.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player to have scored more World Cup goals than Pele, and “a mere ‘goodbye’ to the eternal King Pele is now accepted by the entire football world.” “You have inspired millions of people and reminded them of yesterday, today and forever. The love you always showed me Every moment we shared even from afar was reciprocated.He will never be forgotten and his memory will live forever in all of us football lovers.”

Pele is widely credited with sparking interest in gaming in the United States in the 1970s, a legacy that lives on to this day.

“For a sport that unites the world like no other, Pele’s rise from humble beginnings to football legend is the story of what is possible,” said President Joe Biden. murmured Thursday. “Today Jill and my thoughts are with his family and all who loved him.”

He is survived by his wife Marcia Aoki and seven children. His daughter Sandra Regina Machado Arantes do Nascimento. Soccer player Joshua Nascimento. Son Celeste Arantes do Nascimento. Her three other daughters, Kelly Christina Nascimento, Flavia Christina Kurz her Nascimento, and Jennifer her Nascimento.