Pelé - The African Mirror

Nov

2022

Can an African team win the World Cup? New football study crunches the numbers

MANY football lovers hope an African team will finally win the men’s 2022 Fifa World Cup. The world has been waiting for this since the great Brazilian player Pelé predicted (in the 1970s) that an African country would win before the year 2000. That didn’t happen, but it didn’t stop Patrice Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football, from saying (in 2021): An African team must win the World Cup in the near future. But is it realistic to keep hoping? Are African teams doing what they need to compete with the world’s best, making it just a matter…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Legendary Pele to leave hospital after colon op

NEWS

BRAZILIAN football legend Pele is set to leave hospital after recovering from an operation to remove a tumour from his colon, his daughter Kely said on Wednesday. She did not say exactly when he would leave the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo but the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper said his discharge would take place on Thursday. "Now that he's stronger and leaving the hospital to continue recovering and treating himself at home, I'm going back home," Pele's U.S.-based daughter said on Instagram. Kely has used social media to post popular updates about her father during his almost month-long…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Greatest-of-all-times Pele ‘stable’ in ICU

NEWS

BRAZIL soccer legend Pele, 80, is in a "stable" condition after "respiratory instability" led to him being admitted to an intensive care unit, Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein hospital said in a statement. Concerns grew about Pele's health after local media reported that he had returned to an ICU that he had only just left earlier this week as he recovers from a colon tumour removal. People walk at the entrance of Albert Einsten Hospital where Brazilian soccer legend Pele is hospitalized in Sao Paulo, Brazil September 17, 2021. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli The hospital said Pele "presented a brief respiratory instability" and…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Brazil’s Pele conscious, recovering satisfactorily after operation

WORLD

FORMER Brazilian soccer great Pele remains in an intensive care unit and is recovering satisfactorily almost a week after surgery to remove a tumor from his colon, his doctors have said. Pele "is conscious, conversing actively and is maintaining normal vital signs," a statement from the Alberto Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo said. In a separate social media post, the 80-year-old three times World Cup winner said he was feeling better and joked he still had hopes of playing again. "My friends, with each passing day I feel a little better," he said on Instagram. "I'm looking forward to playing…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

I’m in good health, says Pele from hospital

NEWS

FORMER Brazil soccer great Pele has been in hospital for six days with an undisclosed health problem but the 80-year-old is not seriously ill, an advisor to the former Santos and New York Cosmos forward has told Reuters. The Globo news site said Pele was undergoing routine examinations in Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein Hospital when the undisclosed issue was detected. Pele's business manager Joe Fraga said there was no cause for concern. "Full battery of tests/scans/colonoscopy/blood etc," Fraga wrote in a message. "He doesn't do everything in one day." The scare came a few days after Pele was forced to…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Approaching 80, Pelé gives thanks for his lucid mental state

SPORT

DAYS before his 80th birthday, Brazilian football great Pelé told his fans he was happy and healthy and pleased to be reaching the landmark with his lucid mental state. Pelé 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 in a short video sent to the media to…