Brazilian football legend Pele lost in a life-and-death fight. After a long battle with cancer, the king of football left millions of fans crying.
The football emperor breathed his last at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was 82 years old at the time of his death. Kelly Nascimento, daughter of the Brazil legend, confirmed the death in a post on Instagram.
This legend had been fighting cancer for a long time. He was admitted to the hospital during the Qatar Football World Cup. From there, he saw the fall of Brazil in the quarter-finals. In between there was some improvement in physical condition but it did not last. In addition to cancer, the black manik of football was suffering from kidney and heart problems.
Edson Arantes was born in 1940 in a slum in Brazil. The world knows him by name. Due to poverty, he had to work in a tea shop at an early age. But the heart was football. Like ten ordinary boys in Brazil, street football was his leisure companion. But because he didn’t have money to buy a real football, he practiced with a football made by stuffing newspapers inside his socks. But Pele had natural talent.
Santos legend Waldemar de Brito saw Pele’s talent in street football. This incident is the turning point of Pele’s life. Brito took 15-year-old Pele from the street to Santos. Pele’s career began with the B team of Santos. After that, there was no need to look back. He made it to Santos’ main team within a year.
In 1958, when he was 17 years old, he became a hero when he came to play the World Cup for the first time. Pele’s World Cup squad was in doubt due to a side strain injury. In the end, Pele went to the World Cup stage. He made his debut in the last group match against the Soviet Union.