Pele released from Brazilian hospital | CNN

Pele released from Brazilian hospital

By Barbara Arvanitidis and Steve Almasy, CNN
2 minute read
Published 8:09 PM EDT, Sat May 9, 2015
Ask many Brazilians who is the greatest footballer of all time and their answer will be simple: "Pele." The striker, pictured here in 2014, won three World Cups with Brazil between 1958 and 1970.
Pele: The greatest —
Ask many Brazilians who is the greatest footballer of all time and their answer will be simple: "Pele." The striker, pictured here in 2014, won three World Cups with Brazil between 1958 and 1970.
Franck Fife/AFP/Getty
Pele is his country's leading goalscorer with 77 goals from 92 caps.
Record-breaker —
Pele is his country's leading goalscorer with 77 goals from 92 caps.
STAFF/AFP/Getty Images/file
The Brazil team of 1970, which beat Italy 4-1 in the World Cup final in Mexico, is widely regarded as the greatest of all time. Pele is seen here leaping on his teammates.
Classic game —
The Brazil team of 1970, which beat Italy 4-1 in the World Cup final in Mexico, is widely regarded as the greatest of all time. Pele is seen here leaping on his teammates.
STF/AFP/Getty Images/file
Pele told CNN that one of his most memorable moments as a player was winning the 1958 World Cup when he was just 17.
Teen dream —
Pele told CNN that one of his most memorable moments as a player was winning the 1958 World Cup when he was just 17.
AFP/Getty Images
Brazil also won the title in 1962 in Chile, but Pele did not play in the final after being injured in Brazil's second game.
Injury blow —
Brazil also won the title in 1962 in Chile, but Pele did not play in the final after being injured in Brazil's second game.
Getty Images
Ahead of the World Cup in 2014, Pele told CNN that his ideal final would feature Brazil and Uruguay -- so his country could win revenge for 1950's heartbreaking Maracana defeat in the deciding match between the two South American teams. But Brazil crashed out after being beaten by eventual winners Germany 7-1 in the semifinal.
Revenge mission? —
Ahead of the World Cup in 2014, Pele told CNN that his ideal final would feature Brazil and Uruguay -- so his country could win revenge for 1950's heartbreaking Maracana defeat in the deciding match between the two South American teams. But Brazil crashed out after being beaten by eventual winners Germany 7-1 in the semifinal.
STAFF/AFP/Getty Images/file
Aerial view of the Christ the Redeemer statue atop Corcovado Hill, overlooking the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The famous arena hosted the 2014 World Cup final in July, 2014.
Rio ready —
Aerial view of the Christ the Redeemer statue atop Corcovado Hill, overlooking the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The famous arena hosted the 2014 World Cup final in July, 2014.
VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images
Pele: Football legend

Story highlights

Pele, 74, released after having prostate surgery earlier this week

He received kidney dialysis at the same Sao Paulo facility for two weeks in November

Sao Paulo, Brazil CNN  — 

Football legend Pele was released Saturday from a hospital following a short stay after prostate surgery, officials at Albert Einstein Hospital said.

Doctors said Friday the soccer great has benign prostatic hyperplasia – an enlarged prostate – and he has no cancer or tumors.

The three-time World Cup winner had a procedure called a transurethral resection of the prostate this week. The surgery is done to relieve moderate to severe urinary symptoms caused by an enlarged prostate.

Pele waves as he leaves the hospital Saturday.
Pele waves as he leaves the hospital Saturday.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine says on its website the inside part of the prostate gland is removed during the procedure. It says the patient usually remains in the hospital one to three days after the surgery.

Pele, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, was hospitalized in November at Albert Einstein, where he received kidney dialysis for several days. He was hospitalized for about two weeks.

The 74-year-old icon had one kidney removed during his days as a player, his aide, Jose Fornos Rodrigues, said last year.

Known as “The Black Pearl” and simply “The King,” Pele is one of the best known names in all of sports.

He burst onto the scene as a teenager, helping lead his native Brazil to the 1958 World Cup championship. Pele went on to star on two other World Cup title teams, in 1962 and 1970, in addition to a breakthrough career with the Brazilian club Santos and later with the New York Cosmos of the now-defunct North American Soccer League.

In 2000, he and Argentina’s Diego Maradona were named Co-Players of the Century by FIFA, the international soccer governing body.

Even after retiring from football, Pele has remained in the public eye as a product pitchman, ambassador for the sport of football and advocate for Brazil’s poor, having grown up among them in Tres Coracoes.

CNN’s Barbara Arvanitidis reported from Sao Paulo and Steve Almasy wrote in Atlanta. CNN’s Shasta Darlington contributed to this report.