Breaking news live updates: Brazilian soccer legend Pele dies at 82 after a long battle with cancer, his daughter confirms
Football legend Pele, who died Thursday at the age of 82, “transformed football into an art,” said Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar in a tribute to his country’s greatest sporting icon. “Before Pele, ’10’ was just a number,” the heir to Pele’s famed jersey number wrote on Instagram, alongside two pictures of himself with the late legend. “But that beautiful sentence is incomplete. I would say that before Pele, football was just a sport. He transformed football into an art, into entertainment… Football and Brazil gained status thanks to the King. He has gone, but his magic will remain. Pele is ETERNAL!”