The only footballer who has won three World Cups has died at 82.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele passed away on Thursday at Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo where he was being treated for “kidney and cardiac dysfunction.”
The hospital said he died of multiple organ failure as a result of colon cancer.
His casket will be carried through the streets of Santos, the Brazilian city where his career began, during his funeral which is planned for Monday and Tuesday.
Pele is one of football’s greatest players, dominating the beautiful game in the 60s.
Only three other players – Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentinians Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi – are mentioned in comparison to him.
Pele mesmerized football fans around the world with his fast and flowing style.
He added goals to his moves, scoring more than 1,200 in his 21-year career.
Pele won his first World Cup as a 17-year-old in 1958 and won two others in 1962 and 1970.
He became football’s ambassador and a global icon whose influence transcended his sport.
In 1967, the Nigerian government and the Biafran side agreed to a ceasefire during the civil war so Pele could play an exhibition match in the country.
The world has lost an idol, but Pele might have gotten closer to his dream of playing football with Maradona in heaven.
