Wedding bells are ringing as three seems to be football legend Pele’s lucky number.
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| At 75, football legend Pele to marry a third time |
At the age of 75, the Brazilian footballer is set to tie the knot a third time this Tuesday with Marcia Cibele Aoki, his girlfriend of six years.
The three-time world champion said he found “love forever” with Aoki, a 42-year-old businesswoman he began dating in 2010.
The couple had originally met in New York in the 1980s, but became romantically much decades later when they crossed paths in an elevator in Sao Paulo.
Japanese by origin, Aoki has been seen by Pele’s side at nearly all his public appearances since 2012, including his repeated hospital visits in recent years.
They had intended to marry a few years ago, but Pele’s suffering health delayed the nuptials, a news agency reported.
Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele is held by many as being the greatest footballer in history. He scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 matches, appeared 91 times for Brazil between 1957 and 1971 and played his club football for Brazil’s FC Santos as well as the New York Cosmos.
Off field, his earlier two marriages lasted for more than a decade each. He has three children with his first wife and two with his second.
Reports said the couple would be marrying in a small ceremony in Sao Paulo.
