While footballing nations big and small still battle for the World Cup, news comes from Brazil that Pele has been transferred to a ward for people at the end of their lives.
The former star has colon cancer, he is 82 years old and there is no longer any point in the treatments.
It remains to be hoped that the suffering is not great and that global sympathy eases it.
There are other footballers, contemporaries and people of previous generations, who have been crowned with the unofficial title of "the greatest footballer of all time", and all of them of course did it with breathtaking football.
But Pele's case is somewhat different, it is largely a cultural-human case.
For this we need to understand the world of 1958.
Pele in Mexico 1970, photo: Allsport Hulton
The British Empire is in the final stages of disintegration and its place is inherited by the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the USA. Until 1964, no black actor had won an Oscar, no non-white musician had come close to the popularity of Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby.
Even in sports, real integration has not yet taken place.
Only European teams played in the final when it was held in Europe.
Black entry into American sports was in its infancy.
There is no Muhammad Ali yet, there are still no athletics specialists from Africa.
Football was also far from the game it is today.
The World Cup is still much smaller than the Olympic Games and is completely segregated.
Only South American teams played in the final when it was held in South America.
The World Cup in international football for teams - the European Cups - has only existed for two years.
Of course there are no live TV broadcasts.
Boxing champions earn orders of magnitude more than footballers, and the industry is still seen as belonging to the working class.
15 years later, when Pela retires from football - the branch stands at the top of the hierarchy of sports and Brazil completely dominates it.
What's more, the possibility of every person from every background and every field being global superstars is happening right before our eyes.
Why exactly this boy from Teres Cursaus in the state of Sao Paulo from Brazil?
Of course because he was a one-time football player.
The appearance of the international live broadcast happened for the first time only in the last World Cup in which he played and it also benefited the popularity of the Brazilian star, but also perceptions of moments as well as emotion.
Fella
The height of emotion, photo: Action Images / Sporting Pictures
His first goal in the World Cup against Wales, the beautiful jump that announces to the world: "I have arrived!", the cry after the first victory in the final, even Pele, who goes down injured and crying in the 1966 World Cup when the Portuguese mowed him down - all these create an iconic image.
And of course there is the return to greatness in 1970.
Pele shakes the English goalkeeper's hand after a great save.
Giarzino swings it after the first goal in the final.
A simple, light, non-chalant pass to Carlos Alberto to finish off the final.
Pele's career was not an impulsive collection of goals and records, i.e. not only that, it is an album of iconic photos.
And there was also his charisma.
Fela socially changed the world without saying a word about it.
He was never commercially branded and no advertising money was invested to glorify his name.
If some of the biggest names in the world of football played in famous clubs - Pele played his entire practical career in a mid-sized Brazilian club and never leveraged his fame.
Although he was Brazil's sports minister and advertised Viagra for several years, Pele did not seek to be a senior executive, or a national coach, or president of a football association - fields in which so many giants on the grass often did when they switched to suits.
He was football, he was fame, and he will remain so.
Fella
Towards the end, one can only hope that he will be relieved, photo: AFP
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us