Pelé, the Brazilian soccer star who led his country’s national team to that World Cup victory in 1956 and who, in the 1960s and 70s, rivalled Muhammad Ali as the world’s most popular and recognisable athlete, died Friday (AEDT) at a Sao Paulo hospital.
He was 82, and had been in poor health for the last several years as he battled cancer and what the hospital described in a statement this week as “kidney and cardiac dysfunctions.
A national hero in his native Brazil, Pelé was beloved around the world — by the very poor, among whom he was raised; the very rich, in whose circles he traveled; and just about everyone who ever saw him play.
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Celebrated for his peerless talent and originality on the field, Pelé (pronounced peh-LAY) also endeared himself to fans with his sunny personality and his belief in the power of soccer — football to most of the world — to connect people across dividing lines of race, class and nationality.
Pele won three World Cup tournaments with Brazil and 10 league titles with Santos, his club team, as well as the 1977 North American Soccer League championship with the New York Cosmos. Having come out of retirement at 34, he spent three seasons with the Cosmos on a crusade to popularize soccer in the United States.
Before his final game, in October 1977 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Pelé took the microphone on a podium at the center of the field, his father and Muhammad Ali beside him, and exhorted a crowd of more than 75,000.
At Ghanafuo.com we say Rest In Peace Legend
