Pele, 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 at the age of 82.
His daughter confirmed the death on Instagram. “Everything we are is because of you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace,” Kely Nascimento wrote.
The Brazilian legend, whose real name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, helped his country win the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970, and he remains the national team’s co-scoring leader, with 77 goals in 92 matches.
A post on Pelé’s Facebook page said he “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.”
“His message today becomes a legacy for future generations,” the post said.
Pelé became the World Cup’s youngest scorer in 1958 when he bagged a goal against Wales in Stockholm at the age of 17 years and 239 days. His record still stands, and he is still the only player under 18 to have scored in a World Cup.
He would also help Brazil triumph in the 1962 tournament in Chile, and, after injury ruled him out of the competition four years later in England, he lit up the Mexico World Cup in 1970.
The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes Pelé as having scored the most goals during a specified period, with 1,279 in 1,363 games from Sept. 7, 1956, to Oct. 1, 1977.
(Source Reuters/NBC)
