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Football star Pelé (in April 2019)
Photo: Christian Hartmann / REUTERS
He smiles again: Brazil's football legend Pelé has given the all-clear after an operation on the colon and a stay in the intensive care unit.
"My friends, I'm still recovering very well," wrote the 80-year-old in a post on Instagram.
“Today I received visits from family members and I keep smiling every day.
Thank you for all the love I get from you. "
Pelé, whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, announced in early September that a tumor on his intestine had been removed.
After a successful operation, however, the triple world champion was briefly transferred back to the intensive care unit due to breathing problems.
The Albert Einstein Hospital in the Brazilian city of São Paulo announced this on Friday evening - and spoke of a "preventive measure".
After stabilization, the patient was transferred back to the semi-intensive care unit: "He is currently stable from a cardiovascular and respiratory point of view."
Before Pelé spoke up, his daughter Kely Nascimento had cautiously given the all-clear.
Recovery was normal for a man of Pelé's age, she wrote on Instagram: “After an operation like this, you sometimes take two steps forward and one step back.
Yesterday he was tired and took a step backwards.
Today he took two steps forward. "
nil / sid