"Ball King" Pele passed away, but his legend will never end

On December 29, local time, the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil announced that "Ball King" Pele died at the age of 82 from multiple organ failure caused by colon cancer. From Brazil to the rest of the world, from South American football to the international sports arena, they mourned him, and everyone bid farewell to the "king of the ball" on the international green field.

Pelé was born on October 23, 1940 in Tres Corazóis, Brazil. He is a striker on the field and one of the greatest football stars of the 20th century. Pele scored 1,281 goals in his football career, represented the national team in the World Cup four times, and won the World Cup three times (6th, 7th, and 9th). In 1980, he was named the most outstanding athlete of the 20th century by reporters from more than 20 newspapers in Europe and the United States. In June 1987, he was awarded the FIFA Gold Medal. In 1999, he was elected as the "Athlete of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

had already been transferred to the hospice ward

​​as early as December 3, according to the British " Daily Mail " news, Bailey, who was admitted to the hospital for " respiratory infection ", has been transferred to St. Paul Albert · The "hospice" area of ​​the Einstein Jewish Hospital. As soon as the news came out, not only fans, but also French star Mbappe , Brazilian star Vinicius , Brazilian star Rivaldo and others also prayed for Pele. "Come on! @Pelé, we pray for the king's health," wrote Neymar . French star Mbappe also tweeted, "Pray for the king." In the early morning of the 4th, the "King of the Ball" posted on social media, expressing that he was strong and calm, and would continue to watch the Brazil game. "My friends, I want to keep everyone calm and positive. I am strong and hopeful, I am receiving treatment as usual, and I want to thank the entire medical and nursing team for taking care of me."

​​Bailey posted

​​Bailey's daughter Flavia and Kelly said to the outside world that the reason why their father was admitted to the hospital was because he was infected with the new crown virus three weeks ago. The virus caused the respiratory tract and lung infection of the ball king Pele. "Just received routine treatment in the hospital, not admitted to the ICU ward, let alone entered the palliative care stage."

In fact, since 2012, Bailey has been admitted to the hospital many times due to health problems, including urinary tract infection , kidney stones , ureter stones and bladder stones . During this period, he also underwent hip replacement surgery and lumbar spine surgery. Bailey has been battling bowel cancer since he was diagnosed with a colorectal tumor at the end of August 2021. For more than a year since then, although his illness has relapsed, his family has always announced that his physical condition is relatively stable. As early as October 23 this year, when Bailey celebrated his 82nd birthday, he also posted a video on social networks with the following message: "On my birthday, I just want to express My gratitude. Life is good. Being 82 years old with family and being in good health is the best gift.”

The poor boy helped Brazil win the World Cup three times

Being the only soccer player to win the Remit Cupthree times An athlete, Pele was deeply influenced by the family atmosphere and liked to play football since he was a child. When he was 10 years old, he teamed up with his good friends to play football on the street to practice his skills. From the age of 11, Pele began to participate in professional teams, was the Baru Athletic youth team, at the age of 16 moved to Santos . In an interview with "Aspen", Pele once said that he always remembered that the chairman of the Santos club called my father and hoped that I could join. "At that time, I was just an ordinary member of the Bauru Athletic Youth Team. When I heard the news, I thought it was a prank. Later, I passed the medical examination and successfully joined. Everything was like a dream."

1958, 17 years old Pele assisted a goal on his World Cup debut and scored the only goal of the game against Wales in the quarter-finals. In the semi-final against France, Pele scored a hat-trick in just 23 minutes, scoring three goals to help Brazil beat France 5-2. In the final, Pele was unstoppable, with a volley and a header, Pele scored twice, leading Brazil to its first World Cup title. As Pele became more and more sharp, the then President of Brazil Janio Quedros made special legislation, calling Pele a "national treasure that cannot be exported."

Pele in his youth

The 1970 World Cup final kicked off at the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City at 12 o’clock on June 21. On this day, 107,000 fans witnessed the great final, and nearly 1 billion fans watched it live television show. In the 18th minute, Pele overpowered the Italian defender Burnish who was marking him and scored the first goal of the game. This is the 100th goal of the Brazilian team in the history of the World Cup and the 1028th goal of Pele's career. goal. In the history of the

​​World Cup, Pele has left three pages: he is the only player who has won the World Cup three times. In 1958 in Sweden, he won the silver boot at the age of 17 and scored 5 goals in the semi-finals and finals; 1962 In Chile in 1970, he should have shown his best side but missed most of the games due to injury. Nevertheless, he had 3 players in a row against Mexico in the group stage; Football, he scored 4 goals and assisted 5 times in 6 games, and he was awarded the best player personally, and the 3 goals he failed to score-midfield lob, header saved by Banks , And the extraordinary performance of imagination against Uruguay has become a classic. He scored 12 goals in 14 appearances in 4 World Cups, in addition to 8 assists. He is one of the few players in history who has scored goals in two World Cup finals (3 goals in total), and is the first player to score goals from free kicks twice in the World Cup since video data was available (against in 1966 Bulgaria , 1970 vs. Romania ). In 2014, the French newspaper L'Equipe selected the top 100 players in the World Cup, and Pele ranked first.

Pele as a player

"Everyone can't hold back"

​​When modern football was still in the development stage, Pele greatly promoted the spread of football in the world with his influence. From May to July 1967, he visited Africa for the first time. Wherever he went, people worshiped Bailey as a god. When Pele visited Congo with Santos team in January 1969, the country was in the midst of a civil war. However, Santos' visit allowed the two sides in the civil war to reach an agreement for a two-day ceasefire because they all wanted to watch the football king Pele play.

​​Chinese fans also showed great enthusiasm for Pele. In 1977, Bailey led the New York Cosmos team to visit China. At that time, the Cosmos team led by Bailey had a friendly match with the Chinese team at Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai. The scene was crowded with spectators, with nearly 50,000 people. The ticket price is nearly double the usual fare. In 2002, the Chinese team broke into the World Cup for the first time. Bailey said in an interview with China International Radio Station that from the perspective of development, Chinese football has made great progress compared with its previous level. Entering the World Cup finals for the first time is a huge achievement in itself, and it marks a new level of football in China. Of course, the improvement of the level cannot be completed overnight. If China can increase investment in football in the future, conduct more matches and exchanges with foreign teams, and send more players to play in foreign clubs, Chinese football will have a huge impact on football. There will be greater development in the next few years.

​​German "Football Emperor" Beckenbauer once said: "Pelé is the greatest player ever, Maradona , Cruyff , Platini, everyone is behind him I can’t hold back.” Cruyff, who is known as the “ball saint” in the Netherlands, thinks: “Pelé is the only player who surpasses the limit of logic.”

In the eyes of Argentine football king Maradona, Pele It is also better. When asked in an interview whether he surpassed Pele, Maradona replied modestly: "No, Maradona is Maradona, Pele is the greatest, I am just a football player." An ordinary member."