LONDON (Dispatches) -
Brazil legend Pele has been released from hospital after undergoing surgery for a colon tumor.
The 80-year-old had the operation at Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo on 4 September.
Pele, the only player to win the World Cup three times, left the intensive care unit 10 days later, but was readmitted soon after as a “preventative measure”.
“I am so happy to be back at home,” Pele said in a statement on Facebook.
“I want to thank the entire Albert Einstein Hospital team, who made my stay a pleasant one, with a humane and very affectionate welcome. Thanks also to all of you, who from afar, make my life complete with so many messages of love.”
His medical team say he will continue undergoing chemotherapy.
Pele had been having treatment at the hospital since 31 August after the tumor was detected in routine tests.
His health has been a concern in recent years. He had prostate surgery in 2015 after he was admitted to hospital for the second time in six months, and he was admitted again for a urinary infection in 2019.
Pele is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 77 goals in 92 games and one of only four players to have scored in four World Cup tournaments.
Lionel Messi recently passed him as the leading South American men’s scorer in international matches following a hat-trick in Argentina’s World Cup qualifying win against Bolivia.