Pele's obituary: The Soccer kingdom loses its 'King'

Pele, one of the greatest footballers of all time, passed away on Thursday (December 29) to make the sporting fraternity poorer. Battling cancer for quite sometime, the Brazilian legend suffered a lot in recent times and while he fought hard, his health had gone down severely during the recently-held Qatar World Cup. Known as the 'King of Soccer', Pele touched millions of hearts with his on-field skills, mesmerising moves, and World Cup heroics for Brazil.

Here are some facts about the great Pele:

1. Pele was named as Edson Arantes do Nascimento by his parents.

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2. Pele was born on October 23rd, 1940 and was aged 82 at the time of passing away.

3. As Pele married thrice, he is survived by six children. During his final marriage, he tied the knot with a businesswoman named Marcia Aoki.

4. Pele’s family was very poor and he used to work at a tea stall. He learned football from his father who was a footballer himself. He couldn’t afford a football so he used to play with socks stuffed with newspapers.

5. At age of 17, he played his first game for Brazil against Argentina.

6. The Brazilian legend won FIFA World Cup thrice in 1958, 1962 and 1970. In the 1970 World Cup, he was adjusted the Player of the Tournament.

7. He was voted ‘athlete of the century’ by International Olympics Committee in the year 1999.

8. Pele scored as many as a whopping 1,283 times in 1363 matches, recognised by the Guinness World Record. However, his official goal count by Goal.com is 767 in 831 outings.

After his footballing career, Pele performed many other roles as well. He served as a politician -- Brazil’s Extraordinary Minister for Sport -- was a wealthy businessman, and an ambassador for UNESCO and the United Nations.

Pele even acted in movies, soap operas, composed songs and recorded CDs of popular Brazilian music.

The sporting fraternity has shared condolences and hailed Pele after his passing away from colon cancer. A three-day mourning has been declared in Brazil after his demise; depicting the love and admiration he earned throughout the years.