On December 29, 2022, the legendary Brazilian football player Pele died.. The "

Pele battled cancer for over a year. He spent the last month of his life in the hospital, where he was hospitalized on November 29 due to a respiratory infection..

TSN Prosport talks about the life and achievements of one of the greatest players in the history of football.

Pele's childhood and first steps in football One of the greatest players in the history of football, Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele) was born on October 23, 1940 in the Tres Coracoins municipality of the state of Minas Gerais in eastern Brazil.

His father, Joao Ramos do Nascimento (Dondinho), played professional football for one of the local clubs. Once Dondinha was invited to one of the most famous clubs in the country - Atletico Mineiro.. For a poor family, this was a chance to break out of poverty, but a serious injury prevented him from expressing himself. Dondinho was injured in his first game against San Cristovao after colliding with Augusto (future Brazil captain at the 1950 World Cup).

Pele's mother, Celeste Arantis, was a housewife. The eldest of the children was named after the famous inventor Thomas Edison. But in Pele's birth certificate, they mistakenly forgot to write the letter " In addition to Edson, the family had three more children - two younger brothers and a younger sister..

He received the nickname Pele in his school years - in honor of the local goalkeeper "

Pele became interested in football at the age of 7. His family moved to Bauru, where the Brazilian took his first steps in football. He played for one of the local teams, and the future "

Difficulties did not scare Pele away. He often played barefoot, and worked as a waiter as a teenager.. By the age of 15, Pele changed several teams and even managed to play futsal, and then got into the main club of his life - Santos.

Pele is a legend of Santos At first, Pele played for the youth team, but then the striker of the Santos main team was injured, so the guy got a chance to try himself in adult football. And took full advantage of it.. In 1956, Pele made his debut in a match against Corinthians and scored a goal.

Every year, Pele only rapidly added to football skills.. He became the top scorer of the state championship 9 times, and 1959 was simply incredible for the Brazilian - Pele scored 126 goals in 104 fights.

Together with Pele, Santos won nine Sao Paulo league championships, and in 1962 and 1963 won the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup.

In almost 20 years at Santos, Pele helped the club win more than 20 trophies, repeatedly became the top scorer of the tournament and once even scored 8 goals in one match - in a game with Botafogo. Pele played 636 games for Santos and scored 618 goals..

In 1974, Pele retired from football, but then decided to return to football due to financial problems.. In 1975, Pele signed a contract with the American New York Cosmos, becoming the highest paid football player in the world.. His salary at the time was $1.4 million a year..

He played for Cosmos for three years (37 goals in 64 matches) and left the club on a positive note: in the 1977 season, the Brazilian won the North American Football League and became the top scorer of the tournament. Pele finally hung up his boots in 1977.

Pele's enchanting career in the Brazilian national team Pele made his debut for the national team on July 7, 1957 in a friendly match against Argentina. Selasao lost 1-2, but one of the goals was scored by the then 16-year-old Pele.

And the very next year, Pele made his official debut for the Brazilian national team on June 15, 1958 at the World Cup in Sweden - in a match against the USSR, where he gave an assist. At the time, he was the youngest player (17 years old) ever to play in a World Cup..

Next, Pele scored in every next match in the tournament. In the quarter-finals, he sent one ball into the gates of Wales, in the semi-finals he scored a hat-trick by the French, and in the final he scored twice against Sweden.. As a result, the Brazilian national team won the World Cup, and 17-year-old Pele was recognized as the best young player of the tournament.. The 1962 World Cup in Chile and the 1970 World Cup in Mexico were also triumphant for Pele, at which he was recognized as the best player in the tournament.. Thus, Pele is the only football player in history to become world champion three times as a player (1958, 1962 and 1970).

Pele played for the Brazilian national team until 1971.. In total, Pele made 93 appearances and scored 77 goals in the jersey of the national team..

Titles and Achievements Pele Sao Paulo State Champion: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1973.

Sao Paulo State Championship top scorer: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 1965, 1969 and 1973 Rio Sao Paulo Tournament: 1959, 1963 and 1964 Rio Sao Paulo Tournament top scorer: 1963 Cup.

Recently, the health of the “King of Football” has deteriorated sharply.. In September 2021, Pele underwent surgery to remove a tumor on the right side of his colon.. In February of this year, he was in the hospital for two weeks due to a urinary tract infection.. Also in the spring, the Brazilian was treated for colon cancer. However, chemotherapy did not help..

At the end of November 2022, Pele developed swelling, heart problems and confusion. Against this background, a decision was made on his emergency hospitalization.. However, Pele himself tried to reassure his fans and said that he was in the hospital with a scheduled monthly visit..

Pele spent the last days of his life with his family in a Sao Paulo hospital, where he received palliative care.. The family did not leave him for a minute..