🔴 Live. Pele died

This Thursday Pelé died at the age of 82. The Brazilian star had been hospitalized since the end of November at the Albert Einstein Israeli Hospital in Sao Paulo "for a reassessment of chemotherapy for a colon tumor and for the treatment of a respiratory infection." Unmatched scorer, Pelé keeps in the golden chest of the great history of football  the supreme honor of being the only one to have given the Olympic lap of three World Cups.

The family of Diego Maradona paid homage to the Brazilian legend Pelé, who died this Thursday in the city of São Paulo, with a message on the official account of the Argentine star on Instagram. "May you rest in peace 'O Rei' Pelé. That's how we will always remember you," were the words published along with a photomontage that shows the face of the Brazilian next to the image on the day of the consecration in the 1970 Mexico World Cup.

Since Diego's death, on November 25, 2020, the Argentine star's Instagram account, with 7.6 million followers, has been in charge of his children, who use it to express themselves in the face of transcendental events and also to remember events. of his Sports career.

Maradona and Pelé, the two greatest figures in world soccer in the 20th century, had an up-and-down relationship marked by mutual admiration, egos and their different political positions in relation to FIFA.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed himself in the networks before the death of Pelé. Brazil's president-elect, who will be sworn in next Sunday, wrote in a thread on Twitter: "I had the privilege that younger Brazilians did not have, to see Pelé play live." The PT leader stated that "I saw him give a show, because when he hit the ball he did something special that often ended in a goal."

"I confess that I was angry with Pelé, because he always slaughtered my Conrinthians. But, above all, I admired him. And the anger soon gave way to passion to see him play with the number 10 shirt of the Brazilian team," Lula continued.  

He added that "few Brazilians carried our country's name as far as he did. As different from Portuguese as the language was, foreigners from the four corners of the planet soon found a way to pronounce the magic word: 'Pelé.'"

The three-time president of Brazil closed like this: "Pelé left us today. He went to have a table in heaven with Coutinho, his great teammate at Santos. Now he has the company of so many eternal stars: Didí, Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Sócrates , Maradona... He left a certainty: there had never been a 10 like him. Thank you, Pelé".

Newell's Old Boys from Rosario, the football birthplace of Lionel Messi, lamented the death of Edson Arantes do Nascimento on Twitter. He did it with a text accompanied by a photo of Pelé in the Parque de la Independencia in 1961, when Santos played a friendly with the Rosario team.

"We join the messages and condolences of the entire Sports world for the recent death of Pelé, South American soccer legend and world star," read the official account of the leper team. 

"Before Pelé, '10' was just a number. I read that sentence somewhere, at some point in my life. But that sentence, precious, is incomplete. I would say that before Pelé, football was just a sport Pele changed everything." This is how Neymar's text begins on Instagram to fire Pelé.

Along with a photo of O Rei with a crown, he added: "He turned football into art, into entertainment. He gave a voice to the poor, to the blacks and especially: he gave visibility to Brazil. Football and Brazil have raised their status thanks to to the King! He is gone, but his magic will remain. Pelé is eternal!"

On Twitter, Iker Casillas stated that it is a "very sad day for football", in one of the first reactions after hearing the news of Pelé's death, at the age of 82.

The world champion goalkeeper with Spain in 2010 shared a photo of a young Pelé in the Santos shirt. "A myth of this sport is leaving us," he added, while stressing that the three-time world champion was "admired and loved."

The image of an illuminated crown and the word "eternal" were the way that Santos used to express himself before the news of Pelé's death. The star played almost his entire career at that club, which launched him to fame.

In the lower left corner of the image are Pelé's name, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, and the dates of his birth and death. On the right, the Santos shield is accompanied by a black crepe, as a sign of mourning. 

On April 9, 1979, in Rio de Janeiro, a young Diego Armando Maradona and Pelé met for the first time. O Rei, already retired, had just played in a tribute to Zico. Diego was on his way to break it in the youth World Cup in Tokyo. His dream was to meet Pelé, then the best player in history.

"Never listen when they tell you that you are the best. The day you feel the best you will cease to be" and "the physique is your work tool. From what I can see, you have a very good physique. Take care of him. In life there is time for everything, even being a player. There is time to go out, to have a drink, to smoke a cigarette, to stay up late, to eat a meal that one likes. But do it with balance. Always do what doesn't damage your physique, because if it doesn't, it's all over”, said the Brazilian star to the young Argentine star.

Osvaldo Ardiles, who played with Pelé in the fictional film Escape to Victory, expressed his regret on Twitter. "The King of Kings is dead," wrote the 1978 world champion about the Brazilian 10, whom he defined as an "extraordinary player" and "unique."

Ardiles was one of the players who participated with Pelé in the film Escape to Victory, set in World War II, about a team from a prison camp that challenges a German team. The former Argentine midfielder shared an image of that 1981 film. 

"My idol when I was young. He made football the Beautiful Game and totally international," added Ardiles, for whom "my time playing with him in Escape to Victory was a dream come true."

Gabriel Omar Batistuta added to the expressions of sadness over the death of Pelé. On Twitter, he shared a photo of the star with the World Cup.

"Thank you for everything you gave to the world of soccer. RIP Legend", wrote the goalscorer of the Argentine National Team. 

President Alberto Fernández joined the expressions of regret for the death of Pelé. The president shared an image on Twitter of O Rei's years of splendor in the Brazilian team. 

"One of the best soccer players in history has left us," wrote the president of the Nation. "We will always remember those years in which Pelé dazzled the world with his abilities," he added, while sending "a big hug to his family and the people of Brazil that will carry him in their hearts."

Pelé's family fired the star through O Rei's official Twitter account, in a way of making the announcement of his death official, at the age of 82. 

"Inspiration and love marked the life of King Pelé, who passed away peacefully today. Love, love and love, forever," says the text that accompanies a photo of Edson Arantes do Nascimento. 

Last Saturday, on Christmas Eve, Kelly Nascimento shared a photo on her social networks with her father. "We are still here, in the fight and in the faith. One more night together," wrote the daughter of the Brazilian striker, who had already anticipated that they would spend Christmas in the hospital.

According to the medical report released in the middle of last week, the star presented "progression of the oncological disease", for which he required "greater care related to renal and cardiac dysfunction".

Days before the star's death, the president of the Deliberative Council of Santos do Brasil, Celso Jatene, confirmed that the São Paulo club will wear a crown stamped on its uniform as a tribute to Pelé, who wore the albinegra shirt for 18 years.

"The crown is already on the 2023 shirt. Santos will already play in 2023 with the crown on the shield, the two stars (of the two Brazilian titles) and the crown on top of the shield," Jatene acknowledged in an interview with local Brazilian media days before the death of the star.

After Argentina became world champion, Pelé shared a message on his social networks to congratulate Lionel Messi. "Today football continued to tell his story, as always, in an exciting way. @Leomessi winning his first World Cup, as was deserved by his career," he wrote.

The ex-soccer player also remembered Maradona and assured that "Diego is surely smiling now." Likewise, he praised the game of France and the outstanding performance of Morocco. "What a gift it was to see this spectacle for the future of our sport," he said.

In 1981, O Rei was invited to participate along with other soccer stars of the moment -Bobby Moore, Paul Van Himst, Osvaldo Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna- in the film Victory (in Spanish Escape to victory).

The film, directed by John Huston, was a war drama that told the story of a group of Allied prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp who must play soccer against German soccer players. The film, based on a true event called "The Party of Death", had Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone and Max von Sydow in its cast.

In 2021, O Rei came to the small screen at the hands of Pelé, the Netflix documentary directed by the English David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholson that covers the life of the Brazilian star and also investigates his possible collusion with the dictatorial governments that suffered the brother country.

Born on October 23, 1940 in Minas Gerais, Edson Arantes do Nascimento began playing soccer with his neighborhood team in the São Paulo municipality of Bauru until his mother was convinced to allow him to quit his job and start his meteoric career in 1956. career at Santos.

Wearing the albinegra jersey, O Rei won one Intercontinental Champions Super Cup, two Intercontinentals, two Libertadores de América, six Brasileirãos, four Rio-São Paulo Tournaments and ten times the Paulista Championship. Even to this day he is the top scorer in the history of the São Paulo team with 643 official goals.

He lifted the Cup again in 1962 and 1970 -in 1966 they were eliminated in the first phase-, the year in which he was chosen as the best player. His World Cup record is 12 goals, but just like Diego Armando Maradona, he was never able to lift the Copa América.

In 1971, Pelé said goodbye to the national team and in 1975 he left Santos to finish his career at the New York Cosmos, in the United States, and retired permanently in 1977 having scored 1,301 goals, 775 in official matches.

Santos will already play in 2023 with the crown on the shield, the two stars (of the two Brazilian titles) and the crown on top of the shield," Jatene acknowledged in an interview with local Brazilian media days before the death of the star.