Pel, the Brazilian soccer icon who brought the World Cup trophy to his home country three times, has died. He passed away at the age of 22.
Kely Nascimento announced his death on her social media accounts.
As he got older, Pelé's health began to decline. The doctors at Albert Einstein Hospital in So Paulo said in late December that he was receiving "elevated care" due to the cancer he had been fighting. His family said he would be in the hospital over the Christmas holiday due to his respiratory infections.
He and Diego Maradona, who was younger than Pel and played after his retirement, were both named as the greatest players of all time. Despite the competition, the two struck up a friendship before Maradona's death.
I would like to thank Pele. He will always be who we know, and we know who he is. At a friendly exhibition match, Maradona said that we needed icons like him.
He was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in October of 1940.
At the age of 15, Pel joined the Santos Football Club in Brazil. In 1962 and 1963, the club won the Intercontinental Club Cup and the Libertadores Cup, respectively.
He made his international debut at the age of 17 and played in the World Cup the following year, making him the youngest player in history. He scored three goals in the semifinals against France and two in the final against Sweden.
Pel was declared a "national treasure" by Brazil in order to prevent him from being snatched up by richer European teams. Fans were able to see the star on the international tour.
The Brazilian national team won back-to-back titles after Pel tore a muscle at the 1962 World Cup and had to sit out. Pel and others were injured in the first round of the 1966 World Cup.
He came back in 1970 to win it all a second time. The only soccer player to win the trophy three times is Pel, who scored 12 goals in 14 games.
He joined his second team, the New York Cosmos, after retiring. The New York Times reported at the time that he was the highest-paid athlete in the world. He was a part of the team that won the North American Soccer League trophy and was credited with increasing popularity of the sport in the US.
The last game he played was a match between the two teams. The first half was with the Cosmos while the second half was with his beloved Santos. His teammates lifted him onto their shoulders and paraded him around the field.
Shep Messing, who was a goalkeeper for the Cosmos at the time, said that soccer was cool because of Pele. There are many people at the games. At that time, the two most recognizable people on the planet were the two people that Muhammad Ali was with.
Pel earned a Guinness World Record for scoring more than 1,000 goals.
He used his platform after soccer to help the poor in Brazil. He was a minister for sport in Brazil. He starred in a documentary film about his life and wrote several autobiographies that went on to become best-sellers.
He was named the "greatest of all time" by the International Olympic Committee in 1999 and the "Athlete of the century" by the International Olympic Committee in 2000.
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