As the academy director at FC Dallas from 2012-2018, Gonzalez worked with a plethora of future stars like midfielder Weston McKennie, now at Juventus, and defender Chris Richards, currently at Crystal Palace.

When asked at MLS media day Tuesday in San Jose about their former assistant coach, United States men’s national team players DeAndre Yedlin and Walker Zimmerman had nothing but praise for Gonzalez.

“He’s really good, especially young players,” Inter Miami’s Yedlin said. “I think San Jose is very fortunate to have him. He’s really a great, great coach and also an unbelievable guy. Hopefully has a lot of success.”

The Quakes should be a great landing spot for someone with Gonzalez’s background, as star player Cade Cowell is 19 and Niko Tsakiris, who seems to be on the same path as Cowell, is just 17. In addition, goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, midfielder Jackson Yueill and forward Jeremy Ebobisse are all 25.

Gonzalez, who was appointed as San Jose’s coach on Aug. 17, led FC Dallas to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons. But he was dismissed in 2021 after Dallas failed to make the playoffs. Gonzalez compiled a 28-29-25 regular-season record with Dallas. He later joined USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter’s staff ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where the U.S. advanced out of the group stage before losing in the round of 16 to Holland.

“He has significant experience with this generation of players, and combined with his background in the game both in the U.S. and abroad, he will be a welcome addition to the team,” Berhalter said of Gonzalez when he brought him onto the national team staff.

Zimmerman, 29, started his career with FC Dallas from 2013-2017, when Gonzalez was leading the club to four straight United States Soccer Developmental Academy national championships, before becoming head coach from 2018-2021.

“He’s an honest guy,” said Zimmerman, who now plays for Nashville SC. “He’s gonna wear his heart on his sleeve for the team. He’s going to be passionate.”

“He’ll do anything that he can for his players,” Zimmerman added. “As a player when you have a coach like that, who you know would do anything for you, that’s part of what makes him a good coach.”

Meanwhile, the Earthquakes held their first practice on Monday and will open up the season on the road against Atlanta United on Feb. 25.

MLS boasts Apple deal

MLS held its preseason media and marketing event at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose on Tuesday to highlight the new decade-long partnership between Apple and MLS. The event, now in its 10th season, has typically been in New York or Los Angeles.

The partnership, which was announced in June 2022, will bring an MLS streaming service to Apple TV. Games will no longer air on local television – like NBC Sports Bay Area for the Earthquakes – but Fox will air some games nationally. About 20 Apple executives were present at the event, Courtemanche said, in addition to MLS stars line Carlos Vela, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Riqui Puig.

“Partnering with Apple will help us increase the overall popularity and profile not just of MLS but of soccer in the US and Canada,” Courtemanche said. “With the (2026 men’s) World Cup on the horizon. We are partnering with arguably the most innovative company in the world. That’s going to help us reach new audiences unlike we’ve ever seen before.”

Levi’s Stadium will be one of the host venues for that World Cup, which Courtemanche said he expects to “serve as rocket fuel to grow the sport and Major League Soccer during the next four years.”

ESPN reported that former U.S. star Claudio Reyna and his wife Danielle, the parents of current national team player Gio Reyna, had revealed a 1991 domestic violence incident involving men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter to the soccer organization in retaliation over his treatment of their son.

The controversy started Tuesday with Berhalter dislcosing a physical dispute with his now-wife, along with claims someone reported the incident to U.S. Soccer. Berhalter said in a Twitter post that the individual said “they had information about me that would take me down” and “bring about the end of my relationship with U.S. Soccer.”

One day later, Danielle Reyna said in a statement that she was the person who spoke to U.S. Soccer sporting director and former national team player Earnie Stewart about the 31-year-old confrontation between Berhalter, then 18, and his current wife Rosalind.

Danielle Reyna said she was upset because of post-World Cup statements Berhalter made about her son, even though the head coach never identified Gio Reyna by name.

“I thought it was especially unfair that Gio, who had apologized for acting immaturely about his playing time, was still being dragged through the mud when Gregg had asked for and received forgiveness for doing something so much worse at the same age,” she said.

U.S. Soccer said Tuesday that it received calls on Dec. 11, the same day Berhalter, speaking at a summit on moral leadership, said a player was almost sent home from the World Cup in Qatar due to poor performance. All signs pointed toward that player being Gio Reyna, who had a limited role in the World Cup.

“I did call Earnie Stewart on December 11, just after the news broke that Gregg had made negative statements about my son Gio at a leadership conference,” Danielle Reyna said. “I have known Earnie for years and consider him to be a close friend. I wanted to let him know that I was absolutely outraged and devastated that Gio had been put in such a terrible position, and that I felt very personally betrayed by the actions of someone my family had considered a friend for decades.”

The Reynas and Berhalters have a long history. Danielle Reyna (nee Egan) and Rosalind Berhalter (nee Santana) were soccer teammates at the University of North Carolina at the time of the domestic violent incident, in which Gregg Berhalter admitted kicking Rosalind in the legs during an argument.

Claudio Reyna, currently the sporting director for Austin FC in the MLS, and Gregg Berhalter were high school and national team teammates.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, U.S. Soccer announced it had selected Anthony Hudson to serve as the coach for the upcoming men’s national team camp and exhibition games, replacing Berhalter while an investigation and review of the men’s national team is underway. Berhalter’s contract expired at the end of 2022.

Hudson, 41, led the U.S. U-20 men’s teams in 2020 and 2021 and last year was an assistant to Berhalter for the World Cup. Hudson’s coaching experience also includes time in Major League Soccer with the Colorado Rapids (2017-19) and leading the national teams of Bahrain and New Zealand.

Hudson will be joined by B.J. Callaghan, another of Berhalter’s assistants, and current U-20 national team coach Mikey Varas. The trio will select the roster for the camp and games against Serbia, on Jan. 25 at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, and Colombia, on Jan. 28 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson.

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Soccer Federation revealed Tuesday it is investigating men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter for a 1991 confrontation in which he kicked the woman who later became his wife.

The federation said it learned of the allegation on Dec. 11 and hired the law firm Alston & Bird to investigate. The USSF said Berhalter and his wife Rosalind had “spoken openly” about the matter, and Berhalter admitted to the kick in a statement Tuesday.

“Through this process, U.S. Soccer has learned about potential inappropriate behavior towards multiple members of our staff by individuals outside of our organization,” the USSF said, adding the investigation also includes those allegations.

The USSF said it will announce “in the coming days” who will coach the team for exhibitions against Serbia on Jan. 25 and Colombia three days later. These are the first matches for the Americans since they were eliminated by the Netherlands last month in the World Cup round of 16.

Berhalter’s statement said: “During the World Cup, an individual contacted U.S. Soccer, saying that they had information about me that would ‘take me down’ — an apparent effort to leverage something very personal from long ago to bring about the end of my relationship with U.S. Soccer.

“In the fall of 1991, I met my soulmate,” Berhalter went on. “We had been dating for four months when an incident happened between us that would shape the future of our relationship. One night, when out drinking at a local bar, Rosalind and I had a heated argument that continued outside. It became physical and I kicked her in the legs.

“There are zero excuses for my actions that night; it was a shameful moment and one that I regret to this day. At the time, I immediately apologized to Rosalind, but understandably she wanted nothing to do with me. I told my parents, family and friend what had happened because I wanted to take full responsibility for my behavior. Rosalind also informed her parents, family and friends.

“While the authorities were never involved in this matter, I voluntarily sought out counseling to help learn, grow and improve — one of the most valuable decisions that I ever made. To this day, that type of behavior has never been repeated,” he said.

Berhalter, 51, was hired in December 2018 after the U.S. failed to qualify for that year’s World Cup. He has led the team to 37 wins, 11 losses and 12 draws, and the Americans earned the third and final automatic World Cup berth from the North and Central American and Caribbean region.

Berhalter is the first American man to play for and coach the U.S. at a World Cup. His contract ran through December.

“I am looking forward to continuing my conversations with U.S. Soccer about the future,” he said.

USSF President Cindy Parlow Cone and sporting director Earnie Stewart have not discussed the coaching situation with media since the World Cup. The USSF said its “full technical review” of the program and the investigation were both ongoing and results of the investigation will be made public.

Berhalter was a defender from 1994 until 2011 for Zwolle, Sparta Rotterdam and Cambuur Leeuwarden in the Netherlands, Crystal Palace in England, Energie Cottbus and 1860 Munich in Germany and Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy. He coached Hammarby in Sweden and the Columbus Crew of MLS before taking the U.S. job.

SANTOS, Brazil — Pelé was buried in his final resting place Tuesday as millions of fans in Brazil and around the world mourned the sports legend.

Newly inaugurated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva paid his respects at Vila Belmiro, the stadium where Pelé played for most of his career.

Pelé was being laid to rest in the city where he grew up, became famous, and helped make into a global capital of his sport. Mass was held at the Vila Belmiro stadium before the black casket was driven through the streets of the city of Santos in a firetruck.

It was taken into the cemetery as bands played the Santos team’s official song, and a Catholic hymn. Before the golden-wrapped casket arrived, attendees sang samba songs that Pelé had liked.

Some legends of Pelé’s sport weren’t there.

“Where’s Ronaldo Nazario? Where’s Kaká, where’s Neymar?” asked Claudionor Alves, 67, who works at a bakery next to the stadium. “Do they think they will be remembered like Pelé will? These guys didn’t want to stop their vacations, that’s the problem.”

Another notable absentee was Jair Bolsonaro, whose term as president ended Dec. 31. A day before, he departed capital Brasilia on a flight to Florida, shirking the ceremonial duty of passing the presidential sash to Lula. Bolsonaro is staying in a condominium complex outside Orlando and has been filmed speaking to neighbors.

Geovana Sarmento, 17, waited in the three-hour line to view his body as it lay in repose. She came with her father, who was wearing a Brazil shirt with Pelé’s name.

“I am not a Santos fan, neither is my father. But this guy invented Brazil’s national team. He made Santos stronger, he made it big, how could you not respect him? He is one of the greatest people ever, we needed to honor him,” she said.

Caio Zalke, 35, an engineer, wore a Brazil shirt as he waited in line. “Pelé is the most important Brazilian of all time. He made the sport important for Brazil and he made Brazil important for the world,” he said.

In the 1960s and 70s, Pelé was perhaps the world’s most famous athlete. He met presidents and queens, and in Nigeria a civil war was put on hold to watch him play. Many Brazilians credit him with putting the country on the world stage for the first time.

Rows of shirts with Pelé’s number 10 were placed behind one of the goals, waving in the city’s summer winds. A section of the stands was filling up with bouquets of flowers placed by mourners and sent by clubs and star players — Neymar and Ronaldo among them — from around the world as loudspeakers played a song named “Eu sou Pelé” (“I am Pelé”) that was recorded by the Brazilian himself.

The crowd was mostly local, although some came from far away. Many mourners were too young ever to have seen Pelé play. The mood was light, as people filtered out of the stadium to local bars, wearing Santos FC and Brazil shirts.

Claudio Carrança, 32, a salesman, said: “I never saw him play, but loving Pelé is a tradition that goes from father to son in Santos. I learned his history, saw his goals, and I see how Santos FC is important because he is important. I know some Santos fans have children supporting other teams. But that’s just because they never saw Pelé in action. If they had, they would feel this gratitude I feel now.”

Among those at the stadium was Pelé’s best friend Manoel Maria, also a former Santos player.

“If I had all the wealth in the world I would never be able to repay what this man did for me and my family,” Maria said. “He was as great a man as he was as a player; the best of all time. His legacy will outlive us all. And that can be seen in this long line with people of all ages here.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino told journalists that every country should name a stadium after Pelé.

“I am here with a lot of emotion, sadness, but also with a smile because he gave us so many smiles,” Infantino said. “As FIFA, we will pay a tribute to the ‘King’ and we ask the whole world to observe a minute of silence.”

Another fan and friend in line was Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes.

Pelé had undergone treatment for colon cancer since 2021. The medical center where he had been hospitalized said he died of multiple organ failure as a result of the cancer.

Pelé led Brazil to World Cup titles in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and remains one of the team’s all-time leading scorers with 77 goals. Neymar tied Pelé’s record during this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

The wake is open to the public and mourners began entering the stadium Monday morning.

On Tuesday, a funeral procession will then carry Pelé’s coffin through the streets of the city of Santos, including passing down the street where Pelé’s 100-year-old mother, Celeste Arantes, lives.

The procession will continue to Pelé’s final resting place, the Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica cemetery, where a private funeral will be held for family members.

Fireworks greeted the hearse carrying Pelé’s coffin as it left the Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo, where the three-time World Cup winner died on Thursday from multiple organ failure due to the progression of colon cancer.

The hearse was under a heavy police escort as it headed to the stadium, where his coffin will be placed in the middle of the pitch.

Fans had already started lining the streets in the early hours of Monday morning, many holding flags or banners with messages for ‘O Rei’ (“The King”). “Pelé, you are eternal,” read one by the side of the highway.

Inside Santos’ 16,000-seater stadium, a number of large banners had been placed throughout the stands, with one reading “long live The King.”

Pelé’s son, Edson Nascimento, posted a series of stories on Instagram about the trip to Santos.

“Taking our king home”, read one that showed the convoy on the highway. Another showed his hand over the coffin with the caption: “We are home.”

Famous Brazilians, including players such as Romário and Neymar Jr., and club officials from Real Madrid and São Paulo FC, were also in attendance.

According to CNN Brasil, Pelé’s widow Marcia Aoki attended the wake and was seen hugging Edson Nascimento.

People of all ages flocked to the stadium as the gates opened for the memorial and many people were wearing the iconic yellow jersey worn by Brazil’s football team and Santos FC jerseys.

It was a somber occasion and many fans were overcome with emotion, tears running down their faces as they made their way into the ground. The stadium’s public entrance was adorned with flower bouquets and the Santos FC flag was flown at half-mast.

The song Meu Legado (“my legacy”), sung by Pele, was played on repeat inside the stadium from the moment his casket entered, as fans sang along to the words.

Among the first to arrive to pay their respects was FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

“Pele is eternal,” Infantino told reporters, per Reuters. “FIFA will certainly honor the ‘king’ as he deserves.

“We have asked all football associations in the world to pay a minute of silence before every game and will also ask them, 211 countries, to name a stadium after Pele. Future generations must know and remember who Pele was.”

For more than 60 years, the name Pelé has been synonymous with football. He played in four World Cups and is the only player in history to win three, but his legacy stretched far beyond his trophy haul and remarkable goal-scoring record.

Pelé, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history and Brazil held three days of national mourning following his death.

Tributes have poured in from sports stars, politicians and musicians from all around the world for a man that transcended his sport and became a global icon.

The panel analyzed the day’s action, traded jabs and answered questions sent in by viewers.

At one point during a World Cup dominated by Brazil, Malcolm Allison, a coach at Manchester City, had a question of his own.

“How do you spell Pelé?” Allison asked.

“Easy,” Pat Crerand, the Manchester United and Scotland star, said without missing a beat. “G-O-D.”

To watch Pelé in his prime was to undergo an almost spiritual experience, to bear witness to 90 minutes of proof that there is something beyond our imaginations, beyond our comprehension in the stars.

Pelé’s football wasn’t so much a game as it was a divine act. Fittingly, Pele in Hebrew means “miracle.”

“Pelé,” Johan Cruyff, the Dutch master, once said, “was the only player who surpassed the boundaries of logic.”

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known to the world on a first name basis by his childhood nickname, the missionary who launched a soccer revolution in this country with otherworldly gifts and larger than life personality, died Thursday at the age of 82 after a long battle with cancer.

Named for the inventor who gave the world light, Pele was the sport’s brightest star for three decades. Born and raised in poverty, he spent much of his life as the most famous man on the planet, knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, overshadowing heads of state, popes and rock stars.

“My name is Ronald Reagan, I’m the president of the United States of America,” Ronald Reagan said while introducing himself. “But you don’t need to introduce yourself because everyone knows who Pele is.”

He was the world’s game’s first truly global and transcendent superstar, his brilliance beaming to small African and South American villages, behind the Iron Curtain and China’s Great Wall, across Europe and the Americas. Both sides in Nigeria’s civil war agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire in 1967 so Pelé could take part in an exhibition match in the country. Indeed even before Muhammad Ali, Pelé emerged as an icon and inspiration for Black people around the world, including a political prisoner imprisoned on South Africa’s Robben Island.

“To watch him play was to watch the delight of a child combined with the extraordinary grace of a man in full,” Nelson Mandela once said.

That joy and imagination and wonder of a child, his oh-so-rare gifts, elevated his sport into an art form.

“The moment the ball arrived at Pelé’s feet, football transformed into poetry,” Pier Paolo Pasolini, the Italian poet and playwright, once said.

For decades the sport was referred to as the “simple game.” During Brazil’s run to a then-record three World Cup titles between 1958 and 1970, Pelé transformed the simple game into “jogo bonito.” The beautiful game. Pelé put beauty into the world’s game.

“I sometimes feel as though football was invented for this magical player,” said Sir Bobby Charlton, the former Manchester United and England superstar.

Pelé invented soccer in this country. The popularity of the United States can be traced to Pelé’s 1975 signing with the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League. The Brazilian government declared Pele an official national treasure in the early 1960s, preventing him from being sold to European clubs. His arrival in the U.S. was facilitated in part by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger asking the Brazilian government to lift the prohibition on Pele signing with a foreign club. He spent the next three summers playing before sold out crowds coast to coast, planting the seeds for a sport now in full bloom, before playing his final competitive match, the Cosmos’ victory in Soccer Bowl ‘77 in Portland. (I was among the paying customers that day.)

Cruyff, George Best, Eusebio, West Germany World Cup stars Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Mueller all followed Pelé to America.

Eventually the world would as well.

Without Pelé, there’s no 1994 World Cup. There’s no summer of 1999. There’s also no MLS. There’s no Mia or Alex. No Premier League Mornings on NBC. There’s no Manchester United and Liverpool playing before 101,000 at the Big House in Ann Arbor.

Pelé’s impact on the game globally is also undeniable.

Argentina’s epic victory against France in the World Cup final earlier this month has further fueled the debate over who’s the game’s greatest player: Lionel Messi, the hero of Qatar ‘22, his petulant contemporary Cristiano Ronaldo, the tortured genius Diego Maradona, Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stefano, the superstar of Real Madrid’s 1950s dynasty or Pelé. It is an exercise in the unnecessary.

There is no debate.

“Pelé is the greatest player of all time,” Beckenbauer told the magazine 90 Minutes. “He reigned supreme for 20 years. All the others–Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini–rank beneath him. There’s no one to compare with Pelé.”

He is the only player to win three World Cups. He scored a world record 1,279 goals in 1,363 matches, 77 in 92 games for Brazil. FIFA named Pelé and Maradona as joint players of the century. The International Olympic Committee named Pelé athlete of the century.

“The greatest player was Di Stefano,” said Ferenc Puskas, who played with Di Stefano at Real Madrid. “I refuse to classify Pelé as a player. He was above that.”

He was named after the inventor Thomas Edison, his birth coming shortly after electricity became available in his hometown of Tres Coracoes, a small city in southeast Brazil. The son of a former professional player, Pele’s first pitches were city streets. Grapefruits or bundles of newspaper held together by string were his first ball. He was stuck with the nickname Pele as boy after mispronouncing the name of a Vasco de Gama goalkeeper Bile. Pelé was brought to the attention of Santos, a club in the port city of the same name near Sao Paulo, at the age of 15 in 1956. The scout who discovered Pelé told the club he would become the best player in the world.

Two years later he was.

Pelé, just 17 and then the youngest player in World Cup history, scored a hat-trick in the 1958 tournament’s semifinal against France.

“When I saw Pelé play, it made me feel I should hang up my boots,” French superstar Just Fontaine said.

Pelé added two more goals in a 5-2 romp over Sweden in the World Cup final.

“When Pelé scored the fifth goal in that Final,” Sweden midfielder Sigvard Parling said, “I have to be honest and say I felt like applauding.”

He opened the scoring in a 4-1 blowout of Italy in the 1970 World Cup final in Mexico City and then with a stroke of simplistic brilliance set up Brazil’s final goal, a blast from overlapping defender Carlos Alberto that more than 50 years later remains one of the most iconic goals in the tournament’s history.

“An artist, in my eyes, is someone who can lighten up a dark room,” former Manchester United and France forward Eric Cantona said. “I have never and will never find the difference between the pass from Pelé to Carlos Alberto in the final of the World Cup in 1970 and the poetry of the young Rimbaud. There is in each of these human manifestations an expression of beauty which touches us and gives us a feeling of eternity.”

Cantona was right. Pelé was poetry come to life.

Rimbaud wrote, “I have stretched ropes from steeple to steeple; garlands from window to window; golden chains from star to star, and I dance.”

“Muhammad Ali was waving to the crowd, blowing kisses, doing the Muhammad Ali thing,” Cosmos goalie Shep Messing said after Pelé’s farewell match at Giants Stadium in October 1977 “As soon as he walked into the locker room and saw Pelé…he was like a star-struck child.”

Andy Warhol once said, “Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory: instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries.”

So now he belongs to the ages, the world forever at his feet.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Pelé, the Brazilian king of soccer who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century, died Thursday. He was 82.

The standard-bearer of “the beautiful game” had undergone treatment for colon cancer since 2021. He had been hospitalized for the last month with multiple ailments.

His agent Joe Fraga confirmed his death.

Widely regarded as one of soccer’s greatest players, Pelé spent nearly two decades enchanting fans and dazzling opponents as the game’s most prolific scorer with Brazilian club Santos and the Brazil national team.

His grace, athleticism and mesmerizing moves transfixed players and fans. He orchestrated a fast, fluid style that revolutionized the sport — a samba-like flair that personified his country’s elegance on the field.

He carried Brazil to soccer’s heights and became a global ambassador for his sport in a journey that began on the streets of Sao Paulo state, where he would kick a sock stuffed with newspapers or rags.

In the conversation about soccer’s greatest players, only the late Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are mentioned alongside Pelé.

Different sources, counting different sets of games, list Pelé’s goal totals anywhere between 650 (league matches) and 1,281 (all senior matches, some against low-level competition.)

The player who would be dubbed “The King” was introduced to the world at 17 at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the youngest player ever at the tournament. He was carried off the field on teammates’ shoulders after scoring two goals in Brazil’s 5-2 victory over the host country in the final.

Injury limited him to just two games when Brazil retained the world title in 1962, but Pelé was the emblem of his country’s World Cup triumph of 1970 in Mexico. He scored in the final and set up Carlos Alberto with a nonchalant pass for the last goal in a 4-1 victory over Italy.

The image of Pelé in a bright, yellow Brazil jersey, with the No. 10 stamped on the back, remains alive with soccer fans everywhere. As does his trademark goal celebration — a leap with a right fist thrust high above his head.

Pelé’s fame was such that in 1967 factions of a civil war in Nigeria agreed to a brief cease-fire so he could play an exhibition match in the country. He was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in 1997. When he visited Washington to help popularize the game in North America, it was the U.S. president who stuck out his hand first.

“My name is Ronald Reagan, I’m the president of the United States of America,” the host said to his visitor. “But you don’t need to introduce yourself because everyone knows who Pelé is.”

Pelé was Brazil’s first modern Black national hero but rarely spoke about racism in a country where the rich and powerful tend to hail from the white minority.

Opposing fans taunted Pelé with monkey chants at home and all over the world.

“He said that he would never play if he had to stop every time he heard those chants,” said Angelica Basthi, one of Pelé’s biographers. “He is key for Black people’s pride in Brazil, but never wanted to be a flagbearer.”

Pelé’s life after soccer took many forms. He was a politician — Brazil’s Extraordinary Minister for Sport — a wealthy businessman, and an ambassador for UNESCO and the United Nations.

He had roles in movies, soap operas and even composed songs and recorded CDs of popular Brazilian music.

As his health deteriorated, his travels and appearances became less frequent. He was often seen in a wheelchair during his final years and did not attend a ceremony to unveil a statue of him representing Brazil’s 1970 World Cup team. Pelé spent his 80th birthday isolated with a few family members at a beach home.

Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, in the small city of Tres Coracoes in the interior of Minas Gerais state on Oct. 23, 1940, Pelé grew up shining shoes to buy his modest soccer gear.

Pelé’s talent drew attention when he was 11, and a local professional player brought him to Santos’ youth squads. It didn’t take long for him to make it to the senior squad.

Despite his youth and 5-foot-8 frame, he scored against grown men with the same ease he displayed against friends back home. He debuted with the Brazilian club at 16 in 1956, and the club quickly gained worldwide recognition.

The name Pelé came from him mispronouncing the name of a player called Bilé.

He went to the 1958 World Cup as a reserve but became a key player for his country’s championship team. His first goal, in which he flicked the ball over the head of a defender and raced around him to volley it home, was voted as one of the best in World Cup history.

The 1966 World Cup in England — won by the hosts — was a bitter one for Pelé, by then already considered the world’s top player. Brazil was knocked out in the group stage and Pelé, angry at the rough treatment, swore it was his last World Cup.

He changed his mind and was rejuvenated in the 1970 World Cup. In a game against England, he struck a header for a certain score, but the great goalkeeper Gordon Banks flipped the ball over the bar in an astonishing move. Pelé likened the save — one of the best in World Cup history — to a “salmon climbing up a waterfall.” Later, he scored the opening goal in the final against Italy, his last World Cup match.In all, Pelé played 114 matches with Brazil, scoring a record 95 goals, including 77 in official matches.

His run with Santos stretched over three decades until he went into semi-retirement after the 1972 season. Wealthy European clubs tried to sign him, but the Brazilian government intervened to keep him from being sold, declaring him a national treasure.

On the field, Pelé’s energy, vision and imagination drove a gifted Brazilian national team with a fast, fluid style of play that exemplified “O Jogo Bonito” — Portuguese for “The Beautiful Game.” His 1977 autobiography, “My Life and the Beautiful Game,” made the phrase part of soccer’s lexicon.

In 1975, he joined the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. Although 34 and past his prime, Pelé gave soccer a higher profile in North America. He led the Cosmos to the 1977 league title and scored 64 goals in three seasons.

Pelé ended his career on Oct. 1, 1977, in an exhibition between the Cosmos and Santos before a crowd in New Jersey of some 77,000. He played half the game with each club. Among the dignitaries on hand was perhaps the only other athlete whose renown spanned the globe — Muhammad Ali.

Pelé would endure difficult times in his personal life, especially when his son Edinho was arrested on drug-related charges. Pelé had two daughters out of wedlock and five children from his first two marriages, to Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi and Assiria Seixas Lemos. He later married businesswoman Marcia Cibele Aoki.___Azzoni reported from Madrid.

SAO PAULO (AP) — One of Pelé’s daughters said Wednesday she and her family are enduring moments of sadness and despair as the 82-year-old Brazilian soccer great’s hospitalization nears one month.

The three-time World Cup winner’s cancer has advanced and doctors at Albert Einstein hospital recently said he’s under “elevated care” related to “kidney and cardiac dysfunctions.”

Pelé was admitted to the Sao Paulo facility on Nov. 29. The hospital hasn’t published any updates in the past week.

“These moments are hard to explain. Sometimes it is a lot of sadness and despair, in other moments we laugh and speak about fun memories,” Kely Nascimento said on Instagram.

Other family members are also at the hospital.

“And what we learn the most from all of this is that we have to seek one another, hold each other tight. That’s the only way this is worth it. Everyone together,” she wrote.

One of Pelé’s sons, Edson Cholbi Nascimento, who is known as Edinho, visited on Saturday but returned on Tuesday to a southern Brazil city where he works as a soccer coach. He has not spoken to journalists since he left Sao Paulo.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, who is globally known as Pelé, had a colon tumor removed in September 2021. Neither his family nor the hospital have specified whether it had spread to other organs.

Pelé led Brazil to victory in the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups and remains one of the team’s all-time leading scorers with 77 goals. Neymar tied Pelé’s record during the latest World Cup.

Several tributes and get-well soon wishes were made for the former footballer during the Qatar tournament, which was won by Argentina.

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The Quakes are set for a Feb. 25 opener at Atlanta United before returning home for their home debut March 4 against the Vancouver Whitecaps. San Jose will host a 20-year reunion for the 2003 MLS Cup champion squad that night.

The California Clasico against the LA Galaxy is set for July 1 at Stanford Stadium, and it won’t be the only home game played at a venue larger than PayPal Park. The Earthquakes will host their newer Southern California rival, MLS Cup champion Los Angeles FC, at Levi’s Stadium on May 6 for what the team is calling the Bay Area’s biggest Cinco de Mayo celebration.

San Jose will host a second match against the Galaxy Aug. 30 at PayPal Park.

Another twist in the schedule will come in July, when MLS action will pause for the month to participate in the Leagues Cup, a new CONCACAF competition between all 47 MLS and Liga MX squads that will feature a group stage and knockout rounds.

The Earthquakes finished the 2022 season last in the Western Conference with just 34 points, firing coach Matias Almeyda in April after San Jose managed just three points from its first seven games and was the last team left without a win. Earthquakes II manager Alex Covelo was elevated as the interim manager for the remainder of the season.

Gonzalez was appointed to the job in August before seeing through his responsibilities at the World Cup as an assistant on the US squad.

One more change coming for the 2023 MLS season is how fans will watch: The league signed a 10-year deal with Apple TV last summer, meaning the Quakes’ games will no longer be shown on NBC Sports Bay Area or California. Instead, all games will be on Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass, and a selection of league games will also be broadcast on national TV.

The Earthquakes’ lone national TV game included in Tuesday’s schedule release is a May 14 road game at the Galaxy.

They’ll finish the season Oct. 21 with a home game against Austin FC.

You can find the full schedule on the Earthquakes’ website.

He had to wait until the end of the most extraordinary final in the tournament’s history, in which Messi offered a career-defining performance and was still, somehow, outdone by Kylian Mbappé, scorer of the first hat trick in the biggest game there is for more than half a century.

Only then, at the last, was Messi’s wait, his agony over. Only then did he deliver the World Cup, that precious third star, to Argentina, cementing his claim to be the greatest player to have ever played the game.

The emotion that has accompanied Argentina on its journey to the final has been so raw, so volatile that it seemed inevitable that the final step on the road would have to be taut and frenetic and angst-ridden. There was, after all, some 36 years of history, as well as the defining legacy of Messi’s career, at stake. That carries enormous weight.

When the time came, though, Argentina seemed to shoulder the burden lightly. Where France seemed slack, uncertain, Lionel Scaloni’s team was crisp, purposeful. Ángel Di María, restored to the team, tormented Jules Koundé on Argentina’s left; Messi prowled around, drawn by a radar he has honed over the past two decades to be wherever he could cause the most trouble.

By halftime, Argentina’s supremacy had been first established and then reinforced. Di María, the game’s outstanding attacking threat, had drawn a distinctly soft penalty for a foul by Ousmane Dembélé; Messi had duly converted, his teammates swamping him as Argentina’s fans melted in delight.

What came next, though, was this team’s masterpiece: five passes, played in the blink of an eye, sweeping Argentina from one end of the field to the next, culminating in a goal that is the equal, at least, of any scored in a World Cup final in the last half a century.

Di María finished it, and there were starring supporting roles for Alexis Mac Allister and Julián Álvarez, but it hinged on a single, silken touch from Messi, standing on the halfway line, a moment of alchemy that took the most ordinary of materials and turned them into something golden.

And that, at the time, seemed to be that. This has been a curiously passive French team for much of the tournament, outplayed in the quarterfinal by England and for substantial parts of the semifinal by Morocco. The control that was the hallmark of its triumph in Russia four years ago was notably absent; this seemed to be a team living uncomfortably close to the edge.

Deschamps did what he could to claw his team back into the game, removing both Dembélé and Olivier Giroud before halftime, equal parts bold, decisive action and sheer, blind panic. It made little difference. France barely landed a blow on Argentina. Time seemed to be ticking away on its reign as world champion.

It took precisely two minutes for everything to change, for all of Argentina’s painstaking work in this game, in this tournament, to fall apart. Nicólas Otamendi, the grizzled central defender, misjudged a fairly straightforward pass, allowing Randal Kolo Muani, one of France’s roll-of-the-dice substitutes, to slip clear; as he recovered, he bundled the forward over. The French had a penalty, converted by Mbappé, and a glimmer of hope.

Argentina was still regaining its composure when the hammer blow arrived: Messi himself caught dawdling on the ball, a clever touch from Marcus Thuram, and a fierce, first-time volley from Mbappé, fizzing past Emiliano Martínez’s despairing grasp. Argentina’s players slumped, the breath drawn out of their lungs. They had been so close, and in an instant they were as far as ever.

For a while, it seemed as though Argentina’s hopes could extend no further than making it to extra time and then hanging on for penalties. Messi, though, intervened once more, unwilling to accept an ending he had not written. When Hugo Lloris blocked a shot from Lautaro Martínez, there was Messi to drive the ball home.

He celebrated, then, as though he knew just how close he was, his team was; he had not reckoned with Mbappé’s own determination to be the master of his own destiny. His shot was handled by Gonzalo Montiel; with 117 minutes played, he stepped up to take the penalty, to complete his hat trick in a World Cup final, to ensure the game went the distance, to the sweetest, cruelest conclusion imaginable.

Mbappé scored. Messi scored. But Kingsley Coman and Aurelién Tchouámeni did not, and that left Montiel, the right back, to take the shot that would echo through the ages. The roar that Argentina’s fans emitted when the ball struck the back of the net seemed to pierce the sky. Messi sunk to his knees, clasping his teammates close, his wait over, at last.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.