England captain Harry Kane has sent a message to ailing Brazilian legend Pele as the 82-year-old recovers from a health scare in the hospital.
The three-time World Cup winner has been receiving treatment for colon cancer and he’d also undergone surgery to remove a tumor in September last year.
He was recently taken back to the hospital for palliative care after the chemotherapy stopped having the expected results.
His condition appeared serious at first. However, Pele himself allayed fears after posting an encouraging message on Instagram where he also thanked everyone for their well wishes.
England captain Kane was addressing the press ahead of their Round of 16 clash with Senegal on December 4. He sent Pele the best wishes on behalf of himself and the team.
He said (via Metro):
“He is an inspiration among our game. He’s an incredible footballer, incredible person. We are very sad to hear news of him being ill but we wish him well, not just me but the whole England set-up.”
Widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, Pele famously guided Brazil to their first World Cup title in 1958 when he was just 17 years of age.
His participation in the 1962 edition was cut short by an injury, before suffering the same fate at the 1966 tournament too.
However, he returned for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico to help the Canaries lift a third title.
A prolific goalscorer, Pele is believed to have scored over 1,000 goals, although official figures put him at 757 in 831 games for club and country.
England face Senegal in the 2022 FIFA World Cup last-16 today
England comfortably cruised through Group B to reach the Round of 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. They will face Senegal today for a place in the quarter-finals.
The Three Lions are the overwhelming favorites. However, it’s been a tournament of upsets, with many big guns falling to unexpected defeats to relatively small teams.
We have already seen Saudi Arabia beating Argentina, Tunisia beating France and other surprising results.
One thing going for Gareth Southgate’s side is Senegal’s lack of experience in the latter stages of the tournament. They have reached thus far for just the second time in their history.
