Legendary Brazilian Soccer Star Pelé Dies At 82

Pelé, the legendary Brazilian soccer player who rose from barefoot poverty to become one of the greatest and best-known athletes in modern history, died on Thursday (Friday, Dec. 30, 2022, in Manila) at the age of 82, Andrew Downie and Gabriel Araujo reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Pelé is the only football player to win three World Cup titles.

Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein hospital, where Pelé was undergoing treatment, said he died at 3:27 p.m. "due to multiple organ failures resulting from the progression of colon cancer associated with his previous medical condition."

The death of the only man to win the World Cup three times as a player was confirmed on his Instagram account.

"Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pelé, who peacefully passed away today," it read, adding he had "enchanted the world with his genius in sport, stopped a war, carried out social works all over the world and spread what he most believed to be the cure for all our problems: love."

The government of President Jair Bolsonaro, who leaves office on Sunday, declared three days of mourning, and said in a statement that Pelé was "a great citizen and patriot, raising the name of Brazil wherever he went."

Bolsonaro's successor, President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, wrote on Twitter that "few Brazilians carried the name of our country as far as he did."

US President Joe Biden said on his Twitter that Pelé's rise from humble beginnings to soccer legend was a story of "what is possible."

French President Emmanuel Macron said Pelé's legacy would live forever. "The game. The king. Eternity," Macron tweeted.

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