The Japan Times - Pele watches Brazil World Cup match from hospital

EUR -
AED 4.02547
AFN 78.958383
ALL 99.102869
AMD 431.181955
ANG 1.961978
AOA 1003.890567
ARS 1184.765046
AUD 1.813586
AWG 1.97271
AZN 1.867466
BAM 1.955265
BBD 2.22659
BDT 133.983319
BGN 1.955265
BHD 0.412787
BIF 3277.602688
BMD 1.09595
BND 1.474296
BOB 7.619914
BRL 6.405394
BSD 1.102698
BTN 94.079244
BWP 15.358795
BYN 3.608812
BYR 21480.619234
BZD 2.215094
CAD 1.559263
CDF 3148.664634
CHF 0.944431
CLF 0.02729
CLP 1047.223301
CNY 7.980215
CNH 7.994999
COP 4582.945323
CRC 557.847278
CUC 1.09595
CUP 29.042674
CVE 110.234821
CZK 25.256829
DJF 196.376238
DKK 7.461451
DOP 69.640934
DZD 146.03502
EGP 55.406831
ERN 16.439249
ETB 145.347308
FJD 2.537019
FKP 0.847795
GBP 0.850992
GEL 3.01429
GGP 0.847795
GHS 16.970527
GIP 0.847795
GMD 78.997119
GNF 9480.074229
GTQ 8.45127
GYD 228.536272
HKD 8.520633
HNL 28.038338
HRK 7.531044
HTG 143.530764
HUF 404.54591
IDR 18346.949665
ILS 4.100568
IMP 0.847795
INR 93.650132
IQD 1430.891791
IRR 46360.405806
ISK 144.204462
JEP 0.847795
JMD 172.42419
JOD 0.777072
JPY 161.061946
KES 141.527433
KGS 95.002298
KHR 4365.330633
KMF 489.529208
KPW 986.361205
KRW 1599.015607
KWD 0.337157
KYD 0.910826
KZT 556.162432
LAK 23685.841231
LBP 98372.711411
LKR 324.07413
LRD 218.985421
LSL 20.902803
LTL 3.236056
LVL 0.66293
LYD 5.289988
MAD 10.429326
MDL 19.551233
MGA 5069.578931
MKD 61.05679
MMK 2300.919896
MNT 3846.361639
MOP 8.775473
MRU 43.593447
MUR 49.000806
MVR 16.923331
MWK 1897.317993
MXN 22.386696
MYR 4.861215
MZN 70.003894
NAD 20.902803
NGN 1681.066767
NIO 40.290501
NOK 11.790932
NPR 149.910449
NZD 1.95777
OMR 0.421946
PAB 1.09595
PEN 4.037053
PGK 4.46999
PHP 62.764717
PKR 306.904853
PLN 4.245513
PYG 8757.469729
QAR 3.989667
RON 4.952931
RSD 116.586887
RUB 93.840941
RWF 1555.449869
SAR 4.110221
SBD 9.312612
SCR 15.97682
SDG 658.021292
SEK 10.947921
SGD 1.470849
SHP 0.861245
SLE 24.933268
SLL 22981.523891
SOS 624.324825
SRD 40.248477
STD 22683.951476
SVC 9.589967
SYP 14249.994157
SZL 20.902803
THB 37.792726
TJS 11.899889
TMT 3.833642
TND 3.357047
TOP 2.638671
TRY 41.641737
TTD 7.422798
TWD 36.332658
TZS 2923.758392
UAH 45.158896
UGX 4009.400205
USD 1.09595
UYU 46.167964
UZS 14171.813622
VES 77.086835
VND 28252.54745
VUV 134.896075
WST 3.078778
XAF 652.705611
XAG 0.037037
XAU 0.000361
XCD 2.966325
XDR 0.817067
XOF 652.705611
XPF 119.331742
YER 269.409315
ZAR 20.929909
ZMK 9864.868719
ZMW 30.636217
ZWL 352.89544
  • RBGPF

    69.0200

    69.02

    +100%

  • BCE

    0.0500

    22.71

    +0.22%

  • SCS

    -0.0600

    10.68

    -0.56%

  • BCC

    0.8100

    95.44

    +0.85%

  • RYCEF

    -1.5500

    8.25

    -18.79%

  • CMSD

    0.1600

    22.83

    +0.7%

  • GSK

    -2.4800

    36.53

    -6.79%

  • RIO

    -3.7600

    54.67

    -6.88%

  • RELX

    -3.2800

    48.16

    -6.81%

  • JRI

    -0.8600

    11.96

    -7.19%

  • CMSC

    0.0300

    22.29

    +0.13%

  • BTI

    -2.0600

    39.86

    -5.17%

  • BP

    -2.9600

    28.38

    -10.43%

  • VOD

    -0.8700

    8.5

    -10.24%

  • NGG

    -3.4600

    65.93

    -5.25%

  • AZN

    -5.4600

    68.46

    -7.98%

Pele watches Brazil World Cup match from hospital
Pele watches Brazil World Cup match from hospital / Photo: Antonin THUILLIER - AFP

Pele watches Brazil World Cup match from hospital

With fans worldwide on edge over his health, ailing 82-year-old football legend Pele said Monday he was cheering for the Brazilian national team from hospital as they stormed to a spot in the World Cup quarter-finals.

Text size:

Considered by many the greatest footballer of all time, Pele was hospitalized in Sao Paulo last Tuesday amid treatment for colon cancer, just as Brazil wage their campaign to win a record-extending sixth World Cup in Qatar.

In a message on Instagram as the "Selecao" prepared for their 4-1 romp over South Korea in the round of 16, Pele said he was watching.

"I'll be rooting for each one of you," Pele, the only player to win three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970), told the team.

"The King" posted a faded color picture of himself as a baby-faced 17-year-old in Stockholm, Sweden, on his way to dazzling the planet with his extraordinary talent in Brazil's maiden World Cup championship run.

Eight years earlier, seeing his footballer father cry when Brazil lost the 1950 World Cup final at home to Uruguay, Pele had promised to win the trophy one day.

"In 1958, in Sweden, I was walking through the streets thinking about fulfilling the promise I made to my father," Pele wrote.

"I know that many of the national team made similar promises and are also looking for their first World Cup. I want to inspire you, my friends... We are on this journey together. Good luck to our Brazil!"

Neymar and team did him proud, scoring a cascade of goals that evoked the "beautiful game" Pele embodied.

After the match, the team returned to the field carrying a banner marked "Pele!", with a picture of him celebrating Brazil's 1970 World Cup win.

Fans in the stadium could also be seen holding up pictures and messages in Pele's honor.

"It's hard to talk about what Pele is going through, but I wish him all the best," Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar said after the match -- in which he converted a penalty, taking him to within one goal of Pele's all-time Brazil scoring record.

"I hope he'll get well as soon as possible, and that we at least brought him some comfort with the win and the banner we dedicated to him."

Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior, who scored Brazil's opening goal, also sent "a big hug to Pele."

"This win is for him," he said. "I hope we'll be champions for him."

- Family optimistic -

Pele -- whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento -- has been in fragile health in recent years.

Operated for a colon tumor in September 2021, he has been in chemotherapy ever since. But doctors said he now needed a "reevaluation" of his treatments.

They said he also had a respiratory infection, which they were treating with antibiotics.

Pele's daughter Kely Arantes Nascimento said Sunday the new illness was the result of a Covid-19 infection Pele, who is fully vaccinated, contracted three weeks ago.

She told Brazilian TV network Globo Pele's family and doctors are confident his life is not in immediate danger.

"When he gets better, he'll come home," she said.

- Flood of tributes -

Worried fans have been keeping vigil outside the hospital, praying for Pele's recovery.

Tributes have also poured in from around the world, including in Qatar, where World Cup organizers lit up buildings with the message "Get well soon" and deployed dozens of drones to draw a Brazil jersey in the night sky over Doha with Pele's iconic number 10 on it.

Current stars such as France striker Kylian Mbappe and England captain Harry Kane have also sent messages of support.

"Pray for the King," Mbappe wrote on Twitter.

M.Sugiyama--JT