Legend Pele Turns 80

On the eve of his 80th birthday, Brazilian football great Pele told his fans he was happy and healthy and pleased to be reaching the landmark with his lucid mental state.

Pele has been shielding at home in Brazil, for most of the Covid-19 pandemic but, in a jovial recorded message ahead of his landmark birthday on Friday, he looked ahead not back.

“Now that I am 80, I need to thank God for giving me the health to get this far, and lucidly, although not always intelligently,” he said with a laugh.

“Wherever I go the world over I am well received, doors are always open to me. I hope that when I get to heaven God welcomes me the same way that everyone welcomes me today thanks to our beloved football.”

For most of his career on the world stage with Brazil and in club football at Santos, and the New York Cosmos, as well as for years afterwards, the man born Edson Arantes de Nascimento was widely considered the greatest footballer of all time.

First Diego Maradona and then fellow Argentine Lionel Messi came along to challenge that hegemony but the Brazil striker’s trophy cabinet is as big as his rivals.

With Santos, he won the Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup twice, along with 10 Paulista state championships and six Brazilian league titles.

He remains the only player to win the World Cup three times and famously scored more than 1,000 professional goals. Reuters