DISAPPEARANCE

Pelé, the "King" of football, is dead

The Brazilian Pelé, in 2019. REUTERS / Christian Hartmann / File Photo

Text by: Nicolas Bamba Follow |

Jean-Damien Lesay

4 mins

Former footballer Pelé died on Thursday, December 29, 2022, his family announced.

An emblematic Brazilian player from the 1950s to the 1970s, he was nicknamed the "King" of football.

After his retirement from sport, his aura had gone far beyond the limits of the field.

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A true sports legend, one of football's finest gems, is stepping down.

Pelé died on Thursday, December 29, 2022, at the age of 82.

The legendary Brazilian footballer died at the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in Sao Paulo, where he was admitted on December 1 for a “ 

 ”.

A colon tumor was diagnosed in September 2021.

On Wednesday, December 21, the hospital indicated that Pelé's cancer " 

 " and requires " 

 ".

The player spent Christmas surrounded by his family in the hospital.

Real name

, Pelé has been nicknamed the "King" of football for decades.

This is to say if his game and his personality have marked the history of this sport.

Born on October 23, 1940 in a modest home in Três Corações (Minas Gerais), Pelé grew up with a footballer father.

With his club Santos, which he joined at the age of 15, he was champion of Brazil eleven times and won the Copa Libertadores twice (1962, 1963) and the Intercontinental Cup twice (1962, 1963). ancestor of the Club World Championship.

"National Treasure" in Brazil

Long declared

, and as such untransferable, he nevertheless ended his club career at the Cosmos in New York, from 1975 to 1977, before hanging up his crampons.

He was then 37 years old.

But his worldwide reputation, it is above all under the auriverde colors of the national team of Brazil that he forges it.

A selection he joined in 1958, at the age of 17, and with which he won three World Cups - a record - in 1958, 1962 and 1970.

A lively and spectacular attacker, Pelé had made himself known through gestures of unprecedented technical virtuosity which made him a true football artist.

A partly innate virtuosity, but also worked hard on his professional debut during sessions he imposed on himself to improve his weak points, or during karate lessons he took to learn to dribble without ever falling.

An insatiable goalscorer, he scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games.

Object of all superlatives, Pelé marked the spirits with breathtaking actions, to the point of arousing admiration in the very camp of his adversaries for a day.

Thus, in the 1958 World Cup final, Swedish goalkeeper Sigge Parling confessed to having wanted to applaud him after he had scored following a shot from the sombrero followed by a volley.

A modesty that Fluminense supporters did not have one day in 1961. They embraced the genius who scored against their team after a 70-meter raid during which he eliminated seven opponents.

And when he wasn't scoring, Pelé still impressed.

In the 1970 World Cup, his 50-meter lob grazing the Czechoslovakian goal post and his big bridge without touching the ball in front of the Uruguayan goalkeeper stunned the whole world.

Actor, minister and benefactor

After his career, Pelé never really left the media light.

A usual figure in advertising and in the Brazilian collective imagination, he was in turn an actor, a music composer, Minister of Sports from 1995 to 1998 – a post which enabled him to free up the transfer market in his country –, but also a businessman, while multiplying humanitarian commitments.

Unicef ​​named him a goodwill ambassador, while the UN and UNESCO also entrusted him with official missions.

Named Best Athlete of the 20th Century by the sports daily

, by Fifa and by the International Olympic Committee, Pelé has remained a living legend, always acclaimed at each of his many public appearances.

This legend has however been damaged by a few episodes that some Brazilians continue to blame him for.

Thus, he never recognized his eldest daughter – legitimized by a legal action when Pelé refused to submit to DNA tests.

Some of his political positions have also been criticized in his country.

He thus stayed away from debates on racism, angering some black activists by arguing that this ideology could be overcome through education, work and professionalism.

Which earned the player Romario the following exit: “ 

 And when he plays football, that goes without saying…

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