Sandra Machado, the daughter that Pelé did not want to recognize and who died without his visit

At the age of 82, Pelé passed away this Thursday, after battling colon cancer that had affected him for several years. Before his death, the former Brazilian soccer player had congratulated Argentina and Lionel Messi for winning the World Cup in Qatar, while he received specialized medical care and was accompanied by his relatives.

In those final instances, some of his children went to visit him at the Albert Einstein Israeli Hospital and kept an eye on his state of health, as did some of the women with whom O Rei had children. That story, outside the courts, was one of the issues that marked the Brazilian 10.

The media agree that the exact number of children the winner of the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups had is uncertain. In fact, Pelé himself has referred to the subject. "In all honesty, I've had a few affairs, some of which ended in children, but I only found out about them later," he said in a documentary they made about his life and is available on the Netflix platform. .

However, according to the newspaper El Comercio, Pelé recognized, of his own free will and by force, seven children. Among the latter is Sandra Regina Machado, the daughter he had with a domestic worker and whom he had to recognize after a DNA test.

Pelé's first controversy regarding the paternity of one of his children arose in the early 1990s. A young woman named Sandra Machado sued the star to have him recognize her as his daughter. Sandra was born on August 24, 1964 in Guarujá, San Pablo and her mother, Anizia Machado, was a domestic worker with whom the soccer player had an affair.

Between 1991 and 1993, Pelé wanted to show that he was not the father of the young woman in court. Finally, DNA tests determined that they were father and daughter. However, according to the Terra medium, the soccer star never had contact with her.

The first daughter recognized by Pelé by force died in 2006 from a lung metastasis, multiple organ dysfunction and breast cancer. That year, Pastor Oséas Felinto, Sandra's widower, told the Brazilian media that days before she died, the woman wanted her father to visit her, who also did not attend his daughter's funeral, but made his company send flowers.

Between February 1966 and 1982, Pelé was married to Rosmeri dos Reis Cholbi, with whom he had three children: Kelly Cristina, Edson, and Jennifer.

Kelly Cristina was born on February 13, 1967, Edson on August 27, 1970, and Jennifer on June 1978.

The best known of these three Pelé sons is Edson, who tried to follow in his father's football footsteps as goalkeeper. He played in Santos -a team in which Pelé was a figure-, but it did not transcend. Years later, Edson was imprisoned for a process related to money laundering and drug trafficking. In 2017 he received probation.

Kelly Nascimento, for her part, published a moving photo on her Instagram account in which the hand of several of Pelé's children is seen taking the star's in the hospital with the following caption: "All that we are is thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace".

Pelé married for the second time with the singer and psychologist Assíra Lemos Seixas. The marriage lasted from 1994 to 2008 and the couple had twins: Joshua and Celeste.

Born in 1968, Flavia Christina Kurtz is another daughter Pelé had out of wedlock. However, he did recognize her as his from the beginning.

Flavia is the fruit of the love affair between the soccer player and the journalist Lenita Kurtz. Flavia is a physiotherapist and she has a very good relationship with her father.

Pelé's current wife is Marcia Cibele Aoki, a Brazilian businesswoman of Japanese origin who imports medical supplies and equipment in Penápolis, São Paulo. Pelé had no children with her. They met 30 years before getting married, in 1986, but it was in 2010 that they began a formal relationship.

Kelly Nascimento, for her part, published a moving photo on her Instagram account in which the hand of several of Pelé's children is seen taking the star's in the hospital with the following caption: "All that we are is thanks to you.