Brazilian soccer legend Pelé dead at 82

Dec 29 2022, 7:15 pm

Soccer legend Pelé has passed away.

Announced Thursday, Pelé died at the age of 82, after being hospitalized multiple times in the past month with a series of ailments.

Both his agent Joe Fraga as well as members of his family have confirmed his death.

A staple of Brazil’s FIFA World Cup teams for five different tournaments, Pelé is the only player in history to win three men’s World Cups, having done so in 1958, 1962, and 1970. He spent the majority of his club career playing with his childhood team Santos FC, before spending three seasons with the New York Cosmos from 1975 to 1977.

While many of the world’s top players now often depart South America for Europe’s top leagues, Pelé spent the entirety of his prime playing in his home country.

Before earning the nickname Pelé, he was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in Tres Coracoes, Brazil on October 23, 1940.

Though records are disputed, FIFA reports his goalscoring record as 1,281 goals in 1,363 games across all professional competitions.

“These moments are hard to explain. Sometimes there is a lot of sadness and despair, in other moments we laugh and speak about fun memories,” his daughter Kely Nascimento shared earlier this week via an Instagram post. “What we learn the most from all of this is that we have to seek out one another and hold each other tight. That’s the only way that this is worth it. Everyone must be together.”

“Everything we are is thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace,” Nasicomento shared in a new post on Thursday.

Adam LaskarisAdam Laskaris

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