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.”
Watch the world’s best footballers every week with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. LIVE coverage from Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A, Carabao Cup, EFL & SPFL. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Pelé, whose presence for a 1969 exhibition match in Nigeria led to a two-day cease fire in that country’s bitter civil war so that both sides could see him play, became the only player to win three World Cups when Brazil was again victorious in 1962 and 1970, more than making good on his naive and youthful promise to his father.
Pelé starred for Santos, a club in his homeland and, during his career, resisted numerous offers to play in Europe, citing his loyalty to Brazil.
He had planned to retire after playing his final game for Santos in 1974.
But he was deeply in debt and, at the age of 35, he agreed to a $7 million contract to play the final three seasons of his professional career with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League.
MORE TO COME…
This story originally appeared on the New York Post and has been reposted with permission
