BRASILIA,
Brazil
Brazil football legend, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé
is depressed and is too embarrassed to leave his house due to poor health,
according to his son Edinho.
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| Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé |
The former striker will turn 80 in October, and
requires a frame to help him walk after suffering from years of hip trouble.
Many of his recent public appearances have been
in a wheelchair, with his son saying that his father is reluctant to leave the
house due to his shame about being unwell.
"He’s pretty fragile," Edinho
told Globoesporte.
"He had a hip replacement and didn’t have an adequate or ideal
rehabilitation.
"So he has this problem with mobility and
that has set off a kind of depression. Imagine, he’s the king, he was always
such an imposing figure, and today he can no longer walk properly. Only with
help. He is very shy, very embarrassed about it.
"It improved a little compared to that
recent time when he was in a wheelchair, but he still has a lot of difficulty
walking.
"He’s embarrassed, he doesn’t want to go
out, be seen, or do practically anything that involves leaving the house. He is
reclusive."
The 79-year-old’s ill-health has previously
been reported by Brazilian media.
It was claimed that he had his right
kidney removed in 1977, before also stating more recently that he had
underwent surgery to remove kidney stones.
Pele appeared in a wheelchair at the 2018 World
Cup draw in Moscow, with it also reported that he had collapsed from
exhaustion a month later.
The former Santos and New York Cosmos striker
played an influential role in Brazil’s domination at international level from
1958-1970, where the country lifted the World Cup on three occasions.
This summer will mark the 50th anniversary of
Pele’s third and final World Cup title, where he was a key part of
what many believe to be the greatest team of all time when Brazil became
world champions in Mexico in 1970.
Pele spent 18 years at Santos, making 1,281
appearances and scoring 1,091 goals – though not all of those came in official
matches.
He remains Brazil's leading goal scorer with 77
and is considered one of the greatest footballers of all time.
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