“We owe everything we are to you. we love you endlessly Rest In Peace”. With a message from Kely Nascimento on her social networks, the world learned that “El Rey” had closed his eyes forever. After you made them Soccer a form of carnival, fate decided to put an end to the Brazilian’s history Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known around the world as Skin, “O Rei” of football.
After a long battle with colon cancer, the 82-year-old Brazilian star went out with his family at the Albert Einstein Hospital Sao Paulo. The fight against the terrible disease began in 2021 when a tumor was discovered and removed.
However, as the months went by his health began to deteriorate and he experienced the final minutes of that game, the most important of his life as he described it, in November when he was hospitalized with an infection.
The chemotherapy was no longer effective, so that only palliative treatment remained. The month of December, the month World, Pelé lived there in the hospital. His condition worsened, but football kept him alive. However, as the cancer progressed, he began to suffer from kidney and heart dysfunction, so his family couldn’t get away from him. His daughter Kely brought the fatal news.
His story
His mother, Celeste Arantes do Nascimento, who recently turned 100, was instrumental in the king’s career. His support was basic, but he may have inherited the magic in his feet from his father.
Celeste was 16 years old when, on July 29, 1939, she married Dondinho (26 years old), an amateur footballer who did not earn a salary for a long time. He enlisted in the Army’s 4th Cavalry Regiment, where he served as a soldier. He later became part of the Atlético Clube Três Corações squad.
“After the Maracanazo, I saw my father cry for the first time. I was nine or ten years old and I remember seeing him next to the radio. I told him: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll win the World Cup for you.’ And he won three of the four he played, becoming the only footballer to do so. Pelé keeps his promises.
In Bauru, he learned to play using balls armed with socks. He was part of local amateur teams, playing on clay courts and winning youth division titles.
Cheerful. Pelé was discovered at the age of 11 by Brazilian soccer player Waldemar de Brito, who took him to Santos. Photo: spread
He was 15 years old in 1956 when he started acting in the santos and two years later he was the star of the first Brazilian team to win a cup in Sweden. He also won regional and national titles, as well as two Copa Libertadores and two Intercontinental Cups.
In the book of Pelé: Because he Soccer Regardless of Brian Winter, the star admitted there were three big clubs trying to sign him: Real Madrid, AC Milan and Manchester United. Why didn’t it come? He gave the reasons himself.
“A lot of the best teams in Europe […] I’ve been approached over the years but the press went crazy and I never considered playing seriously outside of Brazil. I had my reasons: in short, I loved the rice and beans my mother made, I felt comfortable and happy in my country. My mom and dad lived a few meters from our house, the temperature was always 25 degrees and the beach was great,” she said.
He retired from Santos in 1974 but returned to the courts a year later and played for new york cosmos, in the up-and-coming football league in UNITED STATES. His last professional game was in 1977, and since then he has been an ambassador of Brazilian sport around the world, his name synonymous with football.
It has to be said that at the time Pelé was playing he didn’t give himself that golden ball, but FIFA had a very kind gesture by presenting him with the Honorary Ballon d’Or in 2014. magazine France football He assured that the “King” (with the current format) would have won 7 prizes of this kind (1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964 and 1970).
the acquired wealth
The Brazilian knew how to amass a large fortune that allowed him to lead a comfortable life. He was the highest paid athlete in the world during his golden age and boasted of scoring more than a thousand goals throughout his career.
According to Celebrity Net Worth portal, Pele’s net worth exceeds $100 million. The former Brazilian soccer player decided to invest his income in real estate. One of his big deals was the purchase of an imposing mansion in the Hamptons in New York for $100,000, which he sold in 2008, completely revalued at almost $3 million.
Although Pelé had a fortune in his account, since 2014 he has received a monthly pension of almost 3,000 reais (about 552 euros) in his home country. And it is after his retirement that the idol of many knew he continued to generate income thanks to his multiple endorsement deals. “I didn’t get as rich with football as today’s players do. I made money from advertising when I quit gambling, but none from tobacco, alcohol, politics or religion.”
the heirs
The world legend on the soccer field was a man of many loves and married three times. Most recently, he stood in front of the altar in 2016 at the age of 75. He is the product of his romances and father of seven children. One of them faced a legal battle before acknowledging her paternity.
In the 1990s, a domestic worker was appointed Anizia Machado, revealed that he had an affair with Pelé, from which Sandra Machado was born on August 24, 1964. She was a councilwoman and died of breast cancer in 2006.
His first marriage was to Rose dos Reis Cholbi, to whom he was married from 1966 to 1982, and had three children: audiovisual producer and filmmaker Kely Nascimento, Edson Nascimento and DJ Jennifer Nascimento.
In the second marriage with the singer and psychologist Assíria Seixas, Pelé had twins Joshua and Celeste, both of whom lived in the United States. Flavia Christina Kurtz, now a physiotherapist, and her mother Lenita Kurtz gave birth to another love affair. He had no children with his current wife, Marcia Cibele Aoki.
The last farewell
The location chosen for the final farewell to the king of football couldn’t be more iconic. The football idol will be veiled at the Vila Belmiro stadium, home of the Santos Fútbol Club (SFC), which decreed seven days of mourning and the flag at half-staff.
Pelé’s body will first be veiled for a day and a half on the stadium’s lawn, right in the middle of the pitch where he scored 288 goals. The ceremony will be public, but fans will not be able to go near the coffin to touch it.
After the ceremony, an operation coordinated by the Military Police (PM), City Guard (GM) and Traffic Engineering Company (CET) will take the remains of the king of football for the final tour of the city. who welcomed him then he is taken to the Ecumenical Necropolis where he is buried in a ceremony extremely reserved for loved ones and relatives.
reactions
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese player
“The love you always showed me was returned in every moment we shared, even remotely. He will never be forgotten and his memory will live forever… Rest In Peace King Pele.”
Together. When Maradona invited him to his TV show. Photo: spread
Neymar Junior, also Dor del PSG
“Before Pelé, ’10’ was just a number. I would say football used to be just a sport. Pelé turned football into art, into entertainment. It’s gone, but its magic will remain. It’s forever!”.
Ronaldo, former Brazilian player
“Unique. Brilliant. Technical. Creative. Perfect. One of a kind. Where it came from, it stayed. Without ever leaving the top, he leaves us today. The king of football. Your talent is a school. Thank you Pelé. Calm down in peace”.
Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis player
“A sad day for the world of football, for the world of sport. His legacy will always live on. I didn’t see him play, I wasn’t that lucky but they always taught me and told me he was the king of football.”
Did you know already…
follow-up attempt. Edson, Pelé’s son, known as Edinho, followed in his father’s footsteps and pursued a career in football. He went through some clubs as a goalkeeper and even worked as a coach. Living in Brazil and father of two daughters, also got in trouble with the law after being charged with money laundering and connection with the drug trafficking for, according to authorities, ties to a gang, in 2005. He spent time in prison.