Brazil coach Tite said Thursday his thoughts were with Pele after the football icon was hospitalised in Sao Paulo for a “reevaluation” of his treatment following a colon tumour last year.
“We all want to wish good health to Pele, our greatest representative, the extraterrestrial who is terrestrial,” Tite said before a press conference in Doha where the five-time winners play Cameroon in the World Cup on Friday.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento — Pele’s real name — was admitted to hospital “for a reevaluation of his chemotherapy treatment for the colon tumour diagnosed in September 2021,” his medical team said in a statement.
Pele’s daughter Kely Nascimento wrote in an Instagram post that there was “no emergency.”
Considered by many the greatest footballer of all time, Pele has suffered from increasingly fragile health in recent years.
He has been undergoing regular chemotherapy treatments since being diagnosed with colon cancer last year.
The 82-year-old played in three Brazil World Cup-winning teams, in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
Brazil have already qualified for the last 16 of this year’s World Cup in Qatar after winning their first two games, but they still require a draw to clinch first place in their group.
