…After colon cancer battle
Brazilian football legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento, popularly known as Pele, has died at the age of 82 after battling with colon cancer for years. His agent has confirmed.
Pele was arguably the greatest player ever, who was a former Santos FC star had been at the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in Sao Paulo since 29 November.
A medical report just before Christmas showed that he needed care for cardiac and renal dysfunction, having been battling colon cancer since September 2021.
Pele began playing for Santos at the age of 15 and the Brazilian national team a year later, bursting onto the world football scene as a 17-year-old in the 1958 World Cup.
During his international career, he won three World Cups – in 1958, 1962 and 1970 – the only player to achieve this.
His role in Brazil’s third victory, in Mexico in 1970, has gone down in football folklore, as he played a key role in arguably the sport’s greatest ever international team.
His glittering 20-year career from 1957 to 1977 saw him score 757 goals in 831 games, although Santos claim his tally was closer to 1,000.
