Brazilian great Pele has congratulated Cristiano Ronaldo on his move to Manchester United.
Ronaldo’s return to United from Juventus was confirmed this morning.
And Pele has posted a message to the Portuguese online.
In a short comment under Ronaldo’s post, Pele said: “There is no better feeling than conquering the world and returning home.
“Always be happy, Cristiano.”
Football legend Pele says that he is rooting for the “always smiling” Neymar to break his all-time Brazilian goal record of 77 after the Paris Saint-Germain forward took his tally to 68 by scoring against Peru.
Neymar was in tears after scoring for the Selecao in a 4-0 win over Peru in the Copa America, explaining how it had been a difficult few years for his nation and that he just wants to make his people proud.
And Pele, widely considered one of the greatest players ever, commented that it was “impossible not to smile back” when watching Neymar express himself on a football pitch.
“Every time I see this boy, he is smiling,” wrote Pele. “It’s impossible not to smile back. It is contagious.
“I, like all Brazilians, am always happy when I see him playing. Today, he took another step towards my goalscoring record for the Selecao. And I’m rooting for him to get there, with the same joy I’ve had since I saw him play for the first time.”
Lionel Messi scored his 644th goal for Barcelona during his side’s victory over Real Valladolid to break Pele’s record of the most goals for one club.
Argentina forward Messi, 33, scored Barca’s third when he collected Pedri’s backheel, took a touch then slotted the ball past goalkeeper Jordi Masip.
Messi created the first goal when his cross was headed in by Clement Lenglet and started the move for the second, finished off by Martin Braithwaite.
Messi also hit the post in injury time.
Brazil great Pele scored 643 goals in 19 seasons for Santos in his homeland between 1956 and 1974.
Messi, who scored his first goal for Barca in 2005 and has gone on to win 10 La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues, is out of contract at the end of the season and able to talk to other clubs from January.
In August, he said he wanted to exercise a clause in his deal which he said allowed him to leave on a free transfer, but Barcelona refused, saying his 700m euro (£624m) release clause had to be met.
Earlier this week, Messi said the incident caused him to have “a very bad time in the summer”,although he was in superb form against Valladolid on Tuesday, inspiring a win that took Barcelona back up to fifth, eight points behind leaders Atletico Madrid.
Barca could have scored more goals but Masip made a number of fine saves and substitute Philippe Coutinho also hit the woodwork late on.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen made two one-handed saves to deny Fabian Orellana and Kike Perez, preserving Barcelona’s clean sheet.
Earlier on Tuesday, Atletico beat third-placed Real Sociedad 2-0 thanks to goals from Mario Hermoso and Marcos Llorente to go three points clear of Real Madrid, who play Granada at home on Wednesday.
Lionel Messi equalled Brazil legend Pele’s record of 643 goals for a single club after scoring for Barcelona in Saturday’s draw against Valencia.
The Argentine, 33, achieved the feat with a diving header just before half-time, immediately after his penalty was saved by keeper Jaume Domenech.
Messi scored his first goal for Barca in 2005 against Albacete.
Pele, 80, scored 643 goals in 19 seasons for Brazilian side Santos between 1956 and 1974.
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Leo #Messi equals @Pele as the all time top goalscorer for one club WITH 643 goals! ??: @damiendraws pic.twitter.com/dNrlmwdfC7
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 19, 2020
Former Nigeria Professional Football League champions, Plateau United Football Club of Jos has been thrown into mourning mood following the dead of its Head Coach, Audu Isah Pele.
Pele, who died Wednesday afternoon at his residence along Ali Kazaure, was hospitalized at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital Jos, before he was discharged Monday this week.
His death was confirmed by the Media of the Club, Albert Dakup, in Jos the Plateau State Capital.
Dakup said, “Pele joined the services of Plateau United FC as a coach of the feeder team in 2014.
“However, following a string of poor results shortly after the Club’s return to the Nigeria Professional Football League in 2016, the management of the team headed by Pius Henwan elevated coach him alongside other coaches from the feeder team to the first team.
“He contributed immensely to the team’s escape from relegation that season as he served as acting head coach in the absence of Zakary Baraje.”
He added that the deceased coach also played a prominent role in the road to winning the team’s first NPFL title in 2017 when he assisted coach Kennedy Boboye achieved that feat .
“Last season, he was the team’s stabilizing force when he stood in for Head Coach Abdu Maikaba, while he was away on national duty with the Flying Eagles.”
Late Pele played for the defunct Nigerian standard and JIB Rocks Strikers, he also coached Mighty Jets of Jos, defunct JUTH FC, among other clubs.
He has since been buried according to Islamic rites to where family, friends, colleagues as well as players, coaches and management staff of Plateau United headed by the General Manager, Pius Henwan paid their last respect to him.
The deceased is survived by a wife, five children and many relations.
Brazil football great Pele is reluctant to leave his house because he cannot walk unaided due to his poor health, his son has said.
The three-time World Cup winner, who will be 80 in October, received treatment in Paris last April for a urinary infection.
Pele, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers in history, has had hip trouble for some time and now needs a frame to walk, with many of his recent public appearances in a wheelchair.
“He’s embarrassed, he doesn’t want to go out, be seen, or do practically anything that involves leaving the house,” his son Edinho told TV Globo in Brazil.
“He is very sheepish, reclusive.”
Edinho said that he had argued with his father because he had not done the physiotherapy called for after a hip operation.
“He’s pretty fragile. He had a hip replacement and didn’t have an adequate or ideal rehabilitation,” his son added.
“So he has this problem with mobility and that has set off a kind of depression. Imagine, he’s the king, he was always such an imposing figure and today he can’t walk properly.”
This summer will mark the 50th anniversary of the striker’s third World Cup title, won in Mexico in 1970 with what many people believe is the greatest team of all time.
Football legend Pele is experiencing “a kind of depression” and barely leaves home anymore because health problems have left him unable to walk normally, his son said in an interview published Monday.
“He’s pretty fragile in terms of his mobility… and that makes him suffer a kind of depression,” Edinho said of his 79-year-old father, who has had a series of health problems in recent years.
“Just imagine, he’s the ‘King,’ he was always such an imposing figure, and now he can’t walk normally. He gets very shy, very embarrassed about that,” his son said in an interview published on the sports news site Globoesporte.com.
Pele, the pride of Brazilian football and the only player to win three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970), is considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time.
He has been in and out of hospital in recent years for various health issues.
He never fully recovered from one of his hip operations, leaving him dependent on a walker, Edinho said.
“He’s doing a bit better than when he was in a wheelchair recently, but he still has a hard time getting around,” said Edinho, 49.
Pele’s public appearances have grown increasingly rare with age.
Last April he travelled to Paris for a promotional appearance with French rising star Kylian Mbappe, but had to be hospitalised shortly after for kidney problems.
In 2014, he was placed in intensive care for dialysis after contracting a severe urinary infection.
The Brazilian great, whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, has only one kidney, after a broken rib during a match forced doctors to remove the other.
He has also suffered a series of hip problems.
Edinho said despite those issues his father is “doing well” physically.
Football legend, Diego Maradona has named Argentine legend, Alfredo Di Stefano as the greatest player ever in football history.
Maradona, who is currently the manager of Gimnasia de La Plata, believes Di Stefano is superior to everyone including Brazil legend, Pele, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Juventus superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo.
He was superior to everyone, including me. Pele did not want to recognize Di Stefano.
“Pele’s friends invented a trophy for him as the living legend of football. But even I have beaten him to become one of the best players in history.”
Maradona added: “I think I’d have quite a few [Ballons d’Or]. But what Messi is doing is outstanding. I would never like to face Messi – not ever. The lad comes home, plays football, doesn’t sing the national anthem and they say he’s Catalan. I don’t criticize Messi [like some others do].”
Di Stefano played for Real Madrid between 1953 and 1964.
He scored 308 goals in 396 appearances for the Los Blancos and won two Ballon d’Or awards during his time at Santiago Bernabeu.
Brazilian soccer legend Pele was discharged from a French hospital on Monday after recovering from a urinary infection, media in France has reported.
Pele, 78, was admitted to the hospital in Paris last Wednesday with a fever after attending an event in the city with French World Cup-winner Kylian Mbappe.
Pele, considered by many as the game’s finest player and the winner of three World Cups, was treated with antibiotics and said on Friday he was feeling much better.
There was however no immediate confirmation of the discharge from Pele’s press office in Brazil.