Pele, regarded as the best footballer of all-time, succumbs after a long battle with cancer and leaves the world in mourning

Pele, the legendary Brazilian soccer player who rose from barefoot poverty to become one of the greatest and most famous athletes in modern history, died on Thursday at the age of 82.

The Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo, where Pele was being treated, said he died at 3:27 p.m. “due to multiple organ failure due to colon cancer related to a preexisting medical condition.”

The death of the only man who won the World Cup three times as a player was confirmed on his Instagram account.

“Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pele, who died in peace today,” he said, adding that he “fascinated the world with his genius in sports, ending wars, doing social work around the world and spreading what he did. most believed to be medicine for all our problems: love.

Tributes poured in from across the worlds of sport, politics and popular culture for the figure who epitomized Brazil’s dominance of the great game.

The government of President Jair Bolsonaro, who left office on Sunday, announced three days of mourning, and said that Pele was “a good citizen and patriot, raising the name of Brazil wherever he goes.”

Bolsonaro’s successor, President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, wrote on Twitter that “some Brazilians carry the name of our country as they do.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said Pele’s legacy will live on forever. “Game. King. Eternity,” tweeted Macron.

Pele has been undergoing chemotherapy since a tumor was removed from his colon in September 2021.

He has also struggled to walk unaided since an unsuccessful hip operation in 2012. In February 2020, on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic, his son Edinho said that Pele’s physical condition was causing him depression.

Is it possible

On Monday, a 24-hour vigil will be held for Pele in the middle of the pitch at the Santos stadium, his home club where he started playing as a teenager and quickly rose to fame.

The next day, the procession carrying the coffin will go through the streets of Santos, passing through the neighborhood where his 100-year-old mother lives, and ending at the Ecumenical Memorial Necropolis cemetery, where he will be buried in a private ceremony. US President Joe Biden said on Twitter that Pele’s rise from scratch to a football legend is a story of “what could have been done.”

Pele, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, joined Santos in 1956 and turned the small coastal club into one of the most famous names in football.

In addition to hosting regional and national titles, Pele won two Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League, and two Intercontinental Cups, an annual tournament held between the best teams in Europe and South America.

He took three World Cup championship medals, the first at the age of 17 in Sweden in 1958, the second in Chile four years later—although he missed many tournaments due to injury—and the third in Mexico in 1970. , when he led what was considered as one of the greatest sides ever to play the game.

A private person

In an illustrious 21-year career, he scored between 1,281 and 1,283 goals, depending on the number of matches.

But Pele, beyond football, was like no player before or since, and he became one of the first global icons of the 20th century.

With a winning smile and humility that charmed many fans, he was more recognizable than many Hollywood stars, popes or presidents – many if not most he met during his six-decade career as a performer and company pitchman. .

Pele’s home in Brazil was less than a kilometer from the beach, but he didn’t go there for twenty years because he was afraid of the crowds.

But even in unguarded moments between friends, he rarely complains. He believes his talent is a divine gift, and he speaks movingly of how football has allowed him to travel the world, give encouragement to cancer patients and survivors of war and famine, and provide for families who, growing up, often do not understand. the next meal source.

“God gave me this ability for one reason: To make people happy,” he said in a 2013 interview with Reuters. “Whatever I do, I try not to forget.”

With everything he did, the world will never forget Pele either. — Reuters

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