Sao Paulo, Brazil CNN —
The daughter of Brazilian soccer legend Pelé took to Instagram late Friday to post a moving tribute and picture of her father at the Albert Einstein Jewish Hospital in São Paulo.
“We continue to be here, in the struggle and in the faith. One more night together,” Kely Nascimento wrote.
Her words accompanied a photo showing her hugging her father as he lies on a hospital bed. Pelé’s granddaughter Sophia can also be seen in the photo.
Nascimento posted earlier in the week that her father would be spending Christmas in the hospital.
Pelé, 82, was admitted Nov. 29 with a respiratory infection and “reevaluation of colon cancer chemotherapy treatment identified in September 2021,” according to a hospital statement.
Updates from the hospital earlier this week said Pelé’s health had deteriorated and he would now need more care due to the progression of his cancer.
Nascimento previously thanked well-wishers for their tributes and messages of support.
“Our Christmas at home has been suspended,” Nascimento wrote in a post on Wednesday. “We decided with the doctors that for various reasons it would be better for us to stay (in the hospital) with all the care that this new family…Einstein is giving us!” adds Nascimento.
After Pelé was hospitalized in November, Nascimento explained the former footballer had Covid-19 despite being vaccinated “all doses” and because chemotherapy made him more vulnerable, he contracted a lung infection.
Pelé, who was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento and is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers in history, competed in four World Cups, winning three – 1958, 1962, 1970 – and scoring 12 goals in 14 games.
He also scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games during his professional career.