The soccer icon Pelé, who motivated a nation both on and off the field, passed away on Thursday after a battle with colon cancer. He was 82.
In September 2021, a tumor was removed from Pelé, who has been receiving chemotherapy ever since. His daughter claimed that he was admitted to the hospital in late November in order to manage his medicines. But in recent weeks, his condition deteriorated, and a few days later, he was placed in palliative care.
In response to "kidney and cardiac dysfunctions," Pelé was then put into "elevated care" last week, according to a statement from the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo. His agent informed The Associated Press of his passing.
Pelé, a member of three World Cup-winning Brazilian teams, is recognized as the greatest soccer player of all time and is frequently credited with coining the phrase "the beautiful game" to characterize the game.
Born in Tres Coracoes, Brazil, Edson Arantes do Nascimiento spent his formative years in the impoverished town of Bauru in the state of Sao Paulo. His father was a struggling soccer player. Although his parents chose to omit the "I" and call him Edson, he was given the name Thomas Edison in honor of the American inventor. His relatives dubbed him "Dico."
But it was the moniker "Pelé" that made the world aware of him.
Its beginning is unknown; Pelé himself admitted he had no idea how it got started. According to urban lore, his schoolmates gave it to him after they heard him mispronounce the name of his favorite soccer player, goalie Bile of Vasco da Gama.
He admitted to Fox News Latino in 2016 that he didn't enjoy the moniker as a young boy but gradually grew to love it as fans all over the world started shouting it more and more as he was promoting "Pele: Birth of a Legend," a movie of his early life.
"I could not change it," Pelé said at the time.
As a young child, Pelé started playing soccer and would frequently use a grapefruit or a sock filled with newspaper and connected with a string. He participated in a number of amateur teams and even helped the local junior Bauru Athletic Club squad win two Sao Paulo state juvenile championships.
Pelé's parents were persuaded to let the burgeoning sensation to try out for the Santos professional club when he was 15 years old by his youth coach, Waldemar de Brito, a former player for the Brazilian national soccer team.
In World Cup history, Pelé held the marks for being the youngest player to play in a championship game, the youngest goal scorer, and the youngest player to score a hat trick.
For his work with UNICEF, he received the International Peace Award in 1978. In 1999, FIFA named him and fellow Argentine Diego Maradona "Co-Players of the Century."
Marcia Aoki, Pelé's third wife, his six children from separate marriages, and a number of grandchildren all survive him.