Brazil football great Pele "took a little step back'' in his recovery from surgery to remove a tumor from his colon, his daughter Kely Nascimento said Friday, but he is "recovering well'' at a Sao Paulo hospital.
She did not comment on local media reports saying the 80-year-old Edson Arantes do Nascimento is back in intensive care. Kely Nascimento posted a picture with her father on Instagram which she said she had just taken in his room at the Albert Einstein hospital.
"He is recovering well and within normal range. Promise!'' Kely Nascimento said. "The normal recovery scenario for a man of his age after an operation like this is sometimes two steps forward and one step back. Yesterday he was tired and took a little step back.''
"Today he took two forwards!" she added, without giving more details.
The hospital said Pele "presented a brief respiratory instability" and was admitted to an ICU as a "preventive measure." After he was stabilized, it said he had been moved to "semi-intensive care" and was now "stable from a cardiovascular and respiratory point of view."
The tumor was found when Pele went for routine exams at the end of August. His surgery took place on Sept. 4.
Pele won the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups, and remains Brazil's all-time leading men's scorer with 77 goals in 92 matches.