PELE’S daughter has shared the poignant final photo taken of the Brazilian football star after he died at age 82.
Devastated Kely Nasicmento told of her pain after losing her sporting legend dad.
AlamyFootball hero Pele has died aged 82[/caption]
InstagramPele’s daughter paid tribute with this photo[/caption]
Refer to CaptionKely Nasicmento pictured with her dad while he received treatment in hospital[/caption]
Pele had been receiving treatment for a tumour in his colon but stopped responding to care.
It has now been confirmed that he has passed away.
Tonight Kely posted a photo on Instagram showing her family holding Pele’s hand as he lay in a hospital bed.
He had been in the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in Sao Paulo after being admitted at the end of November.
She wrote: “Everything we are is thanks to you.
“We love you infinitely. Rest in peace.”
Kely, who had posted before Christmas that members of Pele’s family would spend the holiday period in the hospital with him, added three heartbroken emojis.
Yesterday she shared an emotional post saying her family was enduring “sadness and despair”.
She posted a picture with her sister Flavia and Pele’s grandchildren, Octavio Felinto Neto and Gabriel Arantes.
Kely said: “These moments are hard to explain. Sometimes there is a lot of sadness and despair, other times we laugh and talk of fun memories.
“And what we learn most from all this is that we have to look for each other, and hold tight. Only when it’s all worth it. With it all together.”
On Boxing Day, Kely shared her praise for the hospital workers who were “doing all they can”.
She said: “To see our dad being treated by these care professionals, super competent and extremely caring.
“Not a moment goes by that we forget this privilege. Even in sadness we can only be thankful.”
Nicknamed The King, Pele won three World Cups with Brazil between 1958 and 1970, the only player in football history to achieve the feat.
His amazing haul of 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, which included friendlies, is recognised as a Guinness World Record.
He scored a remarkable 77 goals in 92 games for the national team – a record equalled by Neymar at the recent World Cup.
Pele burst onto the scene at an early age.
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He made his debut for his local team Santos aged just 15 and then won his first cap for the Brazil national team at 16.
He won the World Cup in 1958 aged just 17, and then won it again in 1962 and 1970.
The South American superstar racked up 643 goals in 659 appearances for club side Santos across his 18-year spell.
He also played for the New York Cosmos and retired in 1977, in an exhibition match between the Cosmos and Santos.
In 1992, after his playing career, he was appointed a UN ambassador for ecology and the environment.
Three years later, he was then named Brazil’s Extraordinary Minister for Sport by president Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
He was the subject of a hit Netflix show charting his life from childhood poverty to the 1970 World Cup winner.
Pele leaves his third wife Marcia Aoki and six children.