Pelé, the legendary Brazilian footballer and three-time World Cup winner, has died at the age of 82..
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, but better known as Pelé, had a tumor removed from the right side of his colon surgically in September 2021 and began chemotherapy later that month. Regular treatment has continued at So Paulo’s Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein for the past year.
Pelé was readmitted earlier in December and spent his final three weeks in the hospital due to “cancer progression,” according to a statement released days before his death. His daughter Kely Nascimento, one of seven children, had previously revealed that Pelé, a devout Catholic, planned to spend Christmas away from home..
Pelé is said to have scored 775 goals in 840 official matches during an illustrious playing career that was primarily spent at Brazilian side Santos before a brief three-season stint in the United States of America playing for the New York Cosmos. In 92 appearances for the Brazilian national team, the forward scored 77 of those goals..
After breaking onto the scene as a 17-year-old at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, Pelé’s status was cemented at the World Cup. He is still the tournament’s youngest player to score a goal, and ten days later he scored twice against the hosts in the final to become the tournament’s youngest player to score in a final as well..
That was the first of three finals Pelé played in and won, a feat no one else has accomplished. These are just three of the records that will cement Pelé’s place in sports history..
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