CELEBRITY
PELE AT 80, THANKS BRAZIL FOR BIRTHDAY WISHES
Considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time, Pele will celebrate his 80th birthday today, confined to his home in Brazil because of the pandemic, but meeting the milestone with his trademark laugh.
“The King” has suffered from a series of health problems in recent years, but has not lost his charisma or sense of humour.
“I’m fine, it’s just I won’t be able to play (football),” he said jokingly in a video call with the head of the Brazilian Football Confederation earlier this week.
The only player in history to win three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970), Pele will celebrate his birthday quietly – as he does almost every year – pandemic or not.
But several tributes have been planned in Brazil, from an exhibit in his honour at the Sao Paulo Football Museum to a mural designed by renowned street artist Kobra in Santos, the city where Pele started his professional career as a 15-year-old prodigy in 1955.
Special newspaper sections and TV specials have also been dedicated to celebrating his legacy.
“He’s a living legend, we have to revere our idols while they’re still alive and still with us,” said Gabriel Oliveira, a visitor to the exhibition in Sao Paulo. “He’s done so much. Thanks to him Brazil is known the world over.”
To thank his supporters, Pele recorded a song with Grammy-winning Mexican duo Rodrigo and Gabriela, billed as “a little birthday present for his fans and himself”.
“Thank you to Brazil and all Brazilians. I was always very happy wearing this jersey. Thank you for all your warm wishes for my birthday,” he said in an Instagram post on Wednesday that was accompanied by a photo of himself celebrating one of his 1,281 goals (including those from unofficial matches).
Whether captured in grainy black and white early in his career, or with his yellow and green No. 10 Brazil jersey in the era of colour TV, many of those goals were spectacular displays of athletic prowess, setting the standard for the jogo bonito or beautiful game that would come to define Brazilian football.
His legacy looms so large that Fifa named him the greatest footballer of the 20th century in 2000, alongside Argentina’s Diego Maradona, who celebrates his 60th birthday on Oct 30.
Pele, however, has grown increasingly frail with age. His public appearances had become rare even before the pandemic confined him at home in Brazil, where Covid-19 has now claimed over 155,000 lives, the second-highest death toll in the world after the United States.
He has had longstanding kidney and hip problems and earlier this year, his son Edinho revealed his father had become depressed and reclusive due to his failing health.
“Just imagine, he’s the ‘King’, he was always such an imposing figure, and now he can’t walk normally,” he said.
· THE GREATEST DEBATE
· PELE (BRA)
Years active 1956-1977
Goals 77 in 92 games (international); 707 (club)
Major titles World Cup (1958, 1962, 1970), Copa Libertadores (1962-63)
CRISTIANO RONALDO (POR)
Years active 2002-present
Goals 101/167; 641
Individual honours Fifa World Player of the Year/Ballon d’Or (2008, 2013-14, 2016-17)
Major titles European Championship (2016), Premier League (2007-09), La Liga (2012, 2017), Serie A (2019-20), Champions League (2008, 2014, 2016-18)
DIEGO MARADONA (ARG)
Years active 1976-1997
Goals 34/91; 312
Major titles World Cup (1986), Serie A (1987, 1990), Uefa Cup (1989)
LIONEL MESSI (ARG)
Years active 2004-present
Goals 71/140; 636
Individual honours Fifa World Player of the Year/Ballon d’Or (2009-2012, 2015, 2019)
Major titles Olympics (2008), La Liga (2005-06, 2009-11, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018-19), Champions League (2006, 2009, 2011, 2015)
But Pele told the public earlier this week that he was still mentally alert, saying: “I thank God for giving me the health to make it this far lucid. Not very intelligent, but lucid. I hope when I die, God will welcome me the same way I’ve been welcomed all over the world because of our beloved football.”
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
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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