Pele, Brazil legend, loses younger brother Zoca to prostate cancer
- Pele has confirmed the death of his younger brother Zoca
- The Brazilian legend revealed the 77-year-old had been battling prostate cancer long before he passed on
- Pele remains the only player to have won three FIFA World Cup titles in their playing days
Brazil legend Pepe has been thrown into mourning following the death of his younger brother Zoca.
The three-time FIFA World Cup-winning star confirmed the death of his only brother who lost the battle against prostate cancer.
Pele, who is equally battling some health concerns shared the news on social media expressing his unhappiness after the passage of his brother.
He said: “With much sadness in my heart, I report that my dear brother Jair Arantes do Nascimento died in Santos, in the hospital where he was being treated for complications in the prostate, where he was fighting cancer for more than a year.
The Mirror claimed both Pele and Zoca are the only children their father, Dondinho, gave birth to and he taught them basic football skills while growing up.
Not much of Zoca's football career was heard of because he failed to get out of his brother's shadows back then despite playing Santos.
Meanwhile, the publication reports that the living legend denied he had complications in his health earlier this month.
He was said to suffered a hip injury relapse while suggesting he uses a walking frame to get around in his house.
But the forward who remains the only player to have lifted the World Cup three times insisted that the news about his health are just rumours.
He told CNN Brasil: "This depression thing, I don't know if they got it wrong because in the last two years, I had a bruise, a femur operation and then, when I started training or making a commercial, I had to stop.
YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Brazilian legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé, claims Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Lionel Messi, but reiterated that himself remains the greatest as cited on SunSport.
The three-time world cup winner believes the players of today cannot live up to the level of his greatness as he continues to hold the Guinness World Record as top scorer of all time.
The 79-year-old scored 1,281 goals during his career and despite a huge number of these goals scored in unofficial games; he believes none of these new generation players can reach that feat.
Source: YEN.com.gh
