Daily Times

SAO PAULO: Brazilian soccer great Pele has been discharged, Sao Paulo’s Albert Einstein hospital said on Thursday, and will spend Christmas at home after months of medical issues following an operation to remove a colon tumor. The 81-year-old ex-player known as “O Rei” (The King) “is stable and will continue the treatment of the colon tumor that was identified in September of this year,” the Albert Einstein Hospital said in a statement. On Instagram, Pele posted a picture of himself smiling. The photo, he wrote, was “not for nothing.” “As I had promised you guys, I will spend Christmas with my family. I’m going home. Thanks for the all the kind messages,” he wrote. Considered by many the greatest footballer of all time, Edson Arantes do Nascimento ––– Pele’s real name ––– is the only player in history to win three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970). He burst onto the global stage at just 17 by scoring dazzling goals, including two in the final against hosts Sweden, as Brazil won the World Cup for the first time in 1958. He went on to have one of the most storied careers in sport, scoring more than 1,000 goals before retiring in 1977.