The family of Pele confirmed the death of the legendary soccer player this Wednesday, December 29, around 1 in the afternoon (central Mexico). The star passed away at 82 years oldwhile he was receiving palliative care for the cancer he had been suffering from since 2021.
It was his daughter Kely Nascimentowho through a post on Instagram shared the sad news.
“Everything we are is thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace”wrote the heiress of the iconic player, without giving further details, along with a photo where the hands of various family members appear taking Pele’s in the hospital bed.
‘O Rei’ had been hospitalized since November 29 at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo, in his native Brazil. The doctors reported that he also suffered from kidney and heart failure; the prognosis was not optimistic.
On Christmas weekend, the family of Edson Arantes Do Nascimento met at the hospital to be with the sports star. In a photo shared on social media by her daughter, Kely Nascimentothe wife of ‘The King’ appears, Marcia Aokihis three oldest children and some grandchildren, but the idol of the court is not seen.
Your son Edinho, Former goalkeeper and now coach of the Londrina club in Sao Paulo, shared an emotional image of him holding Pelé’s hand with the message: “Father, my strength is yours.”
Pelé underwent surgery in September 2021, after being diagnosed with colon cancer. At the beginning of 2022, doctors detected metastases in the lungs, intestine, and liver. As reported by Folha de Sao Paulo, Pelé’s body no longer responded well to chemotherapies and he was admitted to the hospital. Over the days he suffered complications: a respiratory infection, “kidney and heart dysfunction.”
The last title that Pelé received in life was the ‘Best Player in History’, awarded by a brewing company. The person in charge of collecting the trophy was Neymar Jr.who
The same weekend, Pelé received an award as ‘The best player in the history’awarded by the beer firm Budweiser. The person in charge of receiving it was Neymar Jr. who, among the many emotional words he dedicated to her, said:
There have already been various ‘players of the match’ in various eras of football. But ‘Player of History’, only one.
This is the impressive story left by ‘The King’ as legacy…
Pelé, the promise after El Maracanazo
July 16, 1950 was marked as a fateful date in the history of Brazil. It was the day an entire town was silenced after losing the World Cup title at home with an infamous 2-1 loss to Uruguay: the famous Maracanazo.
It was enough for Brazil to tie to be crowned in their own World Cup. The whole country was anticipating a landslide victory – in the two previous games they destroyed Sweden and Spain 7-1 and 6-1, respectively – but (Juan Alberto) Schiaffino and (Alcides) Ghiggia had other plans.
Moments after the painful defeat, a 9-year-old Pelé saw his father crying inconsolably, just like the millions of Brazilians who felt like champions even before starting the game.
The impact of seeing his father cry was so strong for the little boy that he made him a promise:
“One day I’m going to win the World Cup for you, dad.”
It seemed like a chimera light years away from being fulfilled, especially since the little boy and his family lived in extremely precarious conditions.
His father, João Ramos do Nascimento ‘Dondinho’ had been a professional soccer player. He came to play for Atlético Mineiro, but failed to transcend and ended up playing in small teams. In the end he had to retire due to a knee injury that never left him alone.
Pelé’s romance with the ball
Due to his family’s limited economic conditions, the boy – nicknamed ‘Dico’ at the time – formed a soccer team with his friends, who played barefoot, since they didn’t even have enough money to buy sports shoes. Despite having everything against them, including a contemptuous fan base, Ameriquinha won the city tournament.
The young Pelé had a special talent with his feet and a particular love affair with the ball. His father helped him improve his technique behind the scenes of his mother, who was opposed to a life of kicks, matches, and goals precisely because soccer, to some degree, had physically broken his father, who cleaned toilets for a living.
He was part of the lower divisions of Baquinho, a team where his father played and where he was trained by Waldemar de Brito, who played in the 1934 World Cup. It was he who helped convince his mother to allow him to join Santos de Sao Paulo , his favorite team.
He started playing in the lower team and worked on strengthening his physique – he was too skinny – until he reached the first team. However, Edson always missed his family and, after missing a penalty in an Under 16 Tournament match, he sought to flee and return home. His escape attempt was thwarted and he had to stay at the club.
The goalscorer of Santos
He was not yet 16 years old when he made his professional debut against Cubatão, a game in which he even scored a goal. That same year (1956) he established himself as Santos’ top scorer and helped win the Paulista Tournament and the Rio-Sao Paulo Tournament.
In 1958, coach Vicente Feola summoned him to the selection for the World Cup in Sweden instead of Zizinho, star of Corinthians. The fury was such that the ‘torcedores’ of the team organized a friendly between the popular Timao and those summoned to the Canarinha.
Pelé was not in good shape and the team fell 3-1; And as if that were not enough, they intentionally injured ‘O Rei’ (as he was also called). Despite everything, they took him to the World Cup, although they were close to removing him from the team because they thought he would not recover in time.
It wasn’t until the third game of the Group Phase, when the South Americans faced the Soviet Union, that the 17-year-old made his World Cup debut. On that occasion he got together wonderfully with Vavá, Didí and ‘Garrincha’ and they defeated the Soviets 2-0. Pelé scored one of the goals.
In the Quarterfinals he scored the winning goal (1-0) over Wales and in the Semifinals he broke through with three to defeat (5-2) the imposing France of Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, the latter scored 13 goals in that World Cup – a record that stands to this day.
The promise kept by Edson Arantes do Nascimento
And then the dream comes true, more than for money, for the love of the ball. In the Final, against hosts Sweden, he scored two of the five goals that gave Brazil the title (5-2). But that was not all, he also won another couple of World Cups: Chile 1962 and Mexico 1970. In total, he scored 12 goals in World Cups.
The promise that little Edson Arantes do Nascimento had made to his father in 1950 came true. And triple game.
Pelé played almost his entire career with Santos, winning six national titles in the process. He capped off his prolific career, in which he scored nearly 1,300 goals, at the New York Cosmos.
Among his many awards are: Sportsman of the Century (L’Equipe Magazine, 1980), he was included in the Historic Team of the World Cups (FIFA, 1994), Player of the Century (International Federation of History and Statistics, 1999; France Magazine Football, 1999; FIFA, 2000), he was included in the ‘Dream Team’ of the World Cups (FIFA, 2002) and the Honorary Ballon d’Or (FIFA, 2014).
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