Daughter shares new update on football great Pele's health scare

The daughter of Brazilian football icon Pele says the three-time World Cup winner will be moved out of intensive care within the next 48 hours, in a promising update on the 80-year-old's latest health scare.

The football legend has been in the Alberto Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo since doctors removed a tumour from his colon earlier this month.

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Pele confirmed after the surgery that he was recovering well and his daughter Kely Nascimento has now revealed he will be moved out of intensive care and into his own room imminently.

"He is doing well post surgery, he is not in pain and is in a good mood (annoyed that he can only eat jello but will persevere!)," Nascimento said on Instagram.

"He will move into a regular room in the next day or two and then go home.

"He is strong and stubborn and with the support and care of the brilliant team at Einstein and all of the love, energy and light that the world is sending, he will get through this!"

The hospital said last Friday that Pele was recovering satisfactorily.

Pele has suffered from hip problems for years and cannot walk unaided.

His public appearances were already being cut before the COVID-19 pandemic and since then he has made few unnecessary forays outside his house near Santos.

The Brazilian legend is the only player in football history to win three World Cups.

Pele in good spirits after surgery

While he did not confirm whether the tumour was cancerous, the 80-year-old former Santos and New York Cosmos star said he was feeling good and the operation was a "great victory".

"Last Saturday I underwent surgery to remove a suspicious lesion in the right colon," he wrote in a social media post.

"The tumour was identified during the tests I mentioned last week."

The football great later posted on social media to say he is "recovering well" from the surgery, before paying tribute to his friend and singer Roberto Carlos, who lost his 52-year-old son to cancer recently.

The Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo said in a statement at the time that they expected to transfer Pele out of intensive care this week after conducting tests on the tumour.

"Luckily, I am used to celebrating big victories with you," Pele wrote.

"I am facing up to this match with a smile on my face, a lot of optimism and happiness for being surrounded by the love of my family and friends."

with agencies

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