Football star Pelé underwent tumor surgery on Saturday “Suspicious” in the colon, announced Monday, September 6, the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo. The Brazilian is “Recovering” in an intensive care unit, the facility added.
“Thank God I feel very good. (…) Fortunately, I am used to celebrating great victories by your side. I will play this new match with a smile and a lot of optimism ”, wrote the three-time world champion on his Instagram account. This tumor was discovered during routine examinations and a biopsy must be performed, said the hospital in which he has been treated since August 31.
Pele should be released from intensive care on Tuesday, it is also specified in a press release. The health of what many consider the greatest footballer of all time has been fragile in recent years, with several hospitalizations. The last dates back to April 2019, in Paris, due to a severe urinary tract infection. Back in Brazil, he had a kidney stone removed. At the end of 2014 already, he had been the victim of a serious infection, placed in intensive care and on dialysis.
Damaged kidney, femur surgery and hip problems
He’s only had one kidney since he was a player. A broken rib during a match damaged his right kidney, which was eventually removed. In November 2012, he had had surgery on his femur and he also suffered from hip problems, moving with a walker during his last public appearances. In February 2020, Pelé had however insisted on reassuring his admirers of his mental health, after remarks by his son Edinho saying that he was alive “Recluse” and suffered “Some form of depression”.
The Brazilian is one of the last sacred monsters in football, after the disappearance of Johan Cruyff in 2016 and especially Diego Maradona last December. Pelé had paid him a heartfelt tribute, even if the two men had maintained a certain rivalry in the past. “One day, in heaven, we will play together on the same team. And it will be the first time that I will raise my fist to the sky not to celebrate a goal, but because I can give you the hug ”, then declared the Brazilian.
Real name Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé is the only footballer in history to have won the World Cup three times (1958, 1962, 1970), the first of them at only 17 years old, in Sweden. Throughout his career, he scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games, wearing the shirts of his Brazilian club Santos (1956-1974), the national team, the Seleçao, and Cosmos New York (1975-1977 ).
