Edson Arantes do Nascimento, born in 1940 and globally known as Pelé, has died at a hospital in Sao Paulo at the age of 82. 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.
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The three-time World Cup player posted on his Instagram during this year’s World Cup, saying: “Friends, I am at the hospital making my monthly visit. It's always nice to receive positive messages like this. Thanks to Qatar for this tribute and to everyone who sends me good vibes!“
Two days later, on Dec. 3, Pelé posted:
"I'm strong, with a lot of hope and I follow my treatment as usual. I want to thank the entire medical and nursing team for all the care I have received," he said. "I have a lot of faith in God and every message of love I receive from you all over the world keeps me full of energy. And watch Brazil in the World Cup too! Thank you so much for everything.”
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.
According to ESPN, during a war between Nigeria and Biafra, a two-day truce was declared so that people could watch Pelé play. The shah of Iran once waited in an airport for three hours just to meet him.
In his book, Pelé: His Life and Times, the king of soccer wrote about his many injuries and and the limitations caused by them.
"I wanted to put to rest once and for all, the idea that I couldn't enter a World Cup series without getting hurt," he wrote.
After decades of playing and winning for Santos, the “Black Pearl” made the decision in 1974 to retire. But he was deeply in debt after some ill-advised business decisions and began to entertain the offer to play for the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League (NASL).
Clive Toye, the Cosmos general manager, told ESPN, "It really was ludicrous to think that Pele, the greatest player of all, was going to end up playing for this ridiculous little team in New York drawing 1,500 people … But I told him don't go to Italy, don't go to Spain, all you can do is win a championship. Come to the U.S. and you can win a country."
So in 1975, Pelé signed a $2.8 million, three-year contract with the Cosmos, leading the team to a championship win in 1977, the player’s final game.
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."
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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.
RELATED STORY: Henrietta Lacks to be immortalized again—this time as a monument replacing Robert E. Lee statue
The three-time World Cup player posted on his Instagram during this year’s World Cup, saying: “Friends, I am at the hospital making my monthly visit. It's always nice to receive positive messages like this. Thanks to Qatar for this tribute and to everyone who sends me good vibes!“
Two days later, on Dec. 3, Pelé posted:
"I'm strong, with a lot of hope and I follow my treatment as usual. I want to thank the entire medical and nursing team for all the care I have received," he said. "I have a lot of faith in God and every message of love I receive from you all over the world keeps me full of energy. And watch Brazil in the World Cup too! Thank you so much for everything.”
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.
According to ESPN, during a war between Nigeria and Biafra, a two-day truce was declared so that people could watch Pelé play. The shah of Iran once waited in an airport for three hours just to meet him.
In his book, Pelé: His Life and Times, the king of soccer wrote about his many injuries and and the limitations caused by them.
"I wanted to put to rest once and for all, the idea that I couldn't enter a World Cup series without getting hurt," he wrote.
After decades of playing and winning for Santos, the “Black Pearl” made the decision in 1974 to retire. But he was deeply in debt after some ill-advised business decisions and began to entertain the offer to play for the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League (NASL).
Clive Toye, the Cosmos general manager, told ESPN, "It really was ludicrous to think that Pele, the greatest player of all, was going to end up playing for this ridiculous little team in New York drawing 1,500 people … But I told him don't go to Italy, don't go to Spain, all you can do is win a championship. Come to the U.S. and you can win a country."
So in 1975, Pelé signed a $2.8 million, three-year contract with the Cosmos, leading the team to a championship win in 1977, the player’s final game.
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."
YouTube Video