Soccer’s most beloved player, known simply as Pelé, has died at the age of 82

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, born in 1940 and globally known as Pelé, has died at a hospital in Sao Paulo at the age of 82. The soccer megastar was hospitalized on Nov. 29 for a respiratory infection, CNN reports, as well as “re-evaluation of the chemotherapy treatment over the colon cancer identified in September 2021.”

His daughter, Kely Nascimento, explained in November that the Brazilian footballer, despite being fully vaccinated, had contracted COVID-19. His chemotherapy treatment had led to a lung infection. The Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported that Pelé had begun receiving palliative care after his cancer was no longer responding to chemotherapy.

Just days before Christmas, Nascimento wrote on Instagram that her father would remain in the hospital through the holiday. “We will even make some caipirinhas (no kidding). We love you and we will give up an update next week,” she wrote.