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Pele back in intensive care after surgery

September 18, 2021

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, best known in the sporting world as Pele, is back in the ICU. The Brazilian soccer great just had surgery to remove a tumor from his colon.

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Brazilian football legend Pele
Concerns grew over Pele's condition after local media reported he was taken back to intensive care unit Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Fife

Brazilian soccer legend Pele is back in an intensive care unit of a Sao Paulo hospital on Friday following surgery to remove a tumor from his colon.

The Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paolo which is treating Pele said in a statement that he had a "brief breathing stability" issue Thursday night that necessitated that he be in "semi-intensive care." 

The hospital did not elaborate on further details, but said that he is in stable condition and "continues recovering."

On Tuesday after his surgery, he was removed from intensive care.

'Little step back' in recovery

Pele's daughter Kely Nascimento posted a photograph of her father in the hospital to Instagram and said he is "recovering well."

"The normal recovery scenario for a man of his age after an operation like this is sometimes two steps forward and one step back. Yesterday he was tired and took a little step back," she wrote in the post.

"Today he took two forwards!" she added.

Pele's surgery occurred on September 4. Doctors found the tumor during a routine check up in August.

The soccer legend won three World Cup victories in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and is Brazil's all-time top scorer with 77 goals in 92 games.

ar/rs (AP, Reuters)