CELEBRITY
Romario to Pele: The whole world is praying for you
Former Brazilian footballer Romario sent his best wishes and thoughts to fellow icon Pele, stating that the whole world is praying for the health of the three-time world champion, who has been hospitalized for the past month and whose delicate condition is causing concern around the world.
The 1994 World Cup winner put aside his old differences with Pele and joined the voices hoping for the health of the player considered by many as the best soccer player of all time.
“King, get better. Much faith. Everyone is attentive and praying for you. Get better. A kiss to your heart,” Romario told SporTV.
The wishes came from a footballer who has had his differences with Pele when he was still active due to some of the latter’s criticism of some of his questionable off-field behaviors.
“Pele is a poet when he’s quiet, but when he opens his mouth he only speaks sh*t,” Romario, now 56, once said.
The health condition of the 82-year-old former soccer player has been hogging the limelight in Brazil since last Wednesday, when the Albert Eintein Hospital in Sao Paulo reported a worsening of the colon cancer he was diagnosed with in 2021 and said Pele is receiving care related to “renal and cardiac dysfunctions.”
Pele was hospitalized to evaluate a change in the chemotherapy treatment he has been receiving since his colon tumor was detected last September.
Days later, the hospital reported that he was also being treated for a respiratory infection that, according to his daughters, he suffered as a result of a COVID-19 infection.
Most of Pele’s children and grandchildren, as well as his wife, spent Christmas Eve at the Albert Einstein Hospital, where the former soccer player has been hospitalized since November 29.
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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