By Kenneth Enadeghe
World renowned and three-time World Cup winner, Edson Arantes Do Nascimento alias Pele, passed away at the Albert Eisten hospital in Sao Paulo surrounded by loved ones following a prolonged battle with cancer.
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The legendary Brazilian footballer passed away after a long battle with colon cancer which left him hospitalised for over a month. He was 82 years of age.
Significantly, Pelé was able to watch the 2022 World Cup in his final days; and even penned a congratulations post on his social media page to Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe after the epic Argentina versus France final last weekend.
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He had also written an emotional note to Neymar after a huge performance for Brazil earlier in the famed tournament.
Interestingly, Pelé joined Brazil’s national team when he was just 16 years old and won his first-ever World Cup at age 17 in 1958. He went on to lead Brazil to two more titles in the event, winning it in 1962 and 1970.
He is widely regarded as one of the best goal scorers ever, with Cristiano Ronaldo previously calling him “the greatest player in football history.”
