Thursday, the soccer world lost its greatest and most beloved player: Edson Arantes do Nascimento, aka Pelé. The three-time World Cup champion died at a hospital in Sao Paulo at the age of 82.
The loss was heard around the globe, and tributes poured in.
Pelé’s career began at the age of 17, when he walked onto the field in 1958 for the world’s first international broadcast of the World Cup, ESPN reports.
During his legendary 22-year career, he scored 643 goals in 659 matches for the Brazilian club Santos, and he scored 77 times in 92 games for his country’s national team, Deadline reports.
RELATED STORY: Soccer’s most beloved player, known simply as Pelé, has died at the age of 82
From Brazilian soccer star Neymar to President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama, the honoring of Pelé’s greatness was ubiquitous across social media.
The soccer megastar was hospitalized on Nov. 29 for a respiratory infection, CNN reports, as well as “re-evaluation of the chemotherapy treatment over the colon cancer identified in September 2021.”
His daughter, Kely Nascimento, explained in November that the Brazilian footballer, despite being fully vaccinated, had contracted COVID-19. His chemotherapy treatment had led to a lung infection. The Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported that Pelé had begun receiving palliative care after his cancer was no longer responding to chemotherapy.
Just days before Christmas, Nascimento wrote on Instagram that her father would remain in the hospital through the holiday. “We will even make some caipirinhas (no kidding). We love you and we will give up an update next week,” she wrote.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said of Pelé, "Heroes walk alone, but they become myths when they ennoble the lives and touch the hearts of all of us … For those who love soccer, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, generally known as Pelé, is a hero."
The loss was heard around the globe, and tributes poured in.
Pelé’s career began at the age of 17, when he walked onto the field in 1958 for the world’s first international broadcast of the World Cup, ESPN reports.
During his legendary 22-year career, he scored 643 goals in 659 matches for the Brazilian club Santos, and he scored 77 times in 92 games for his country’s national team, Deadline reports.
RELATED STORY: Soccer’s most beloved player, known simply as Pelé, has died at the age of 82
From Brazilian soccer star Neymar to President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama, the honoring of Pelé’s greatness was ubiquitous across social media.
The soccer megastar was hospitalized on Nov. 29 for a respiratory infection, CNN reports, as well as “re-evaluation of the chemotherapy treatment over the colon cancer identified in September 2021.”
His daughter, Kely Nascimento, explained in November that the Brazilian footballer, despite being fully vaccinated, had contracted COVID-19. His chemotherapy treatment had led to a lung infection. The Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported that Pelé had begun receiving palliative care after his cancer was no longer responding to chemotherapy.
Just days before Christmas, Nascimento wrote on Instagram that her father would remain in the hospital through the holiday. “We will even make some caipirinhas (no kidding). We love you and we will give up an update next week,” she wrote.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said of Pelé, "Heroes walk alone, but they become myths when they ennoble the lives and touch the hearts of all of us … For those who love soccer, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, generally known as Pelé, is a hero."