On Thursday news came that Brazilian soccer legend Pelé had passed away. He lived to be 82 years old. This was confirmed by his agent, Joe Fraga, to the AP news agency.

Pele has recently hospitalized at the Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo.

Pelé is a three-time world champion, and is considered by many to be one of the world’s greatest footballers of all time.

Åge Hareide said this was very sad news.

– It’s really sad. He has been a living legend for life. I still think he is the best ever. Lionel Messi has done a lot of good things, but if you look at his career, he is more comprehensive than Messi. Very sad news, Hareide told TV 2.

NRK veteran Arne Scheie paid tribute to what Pelé did for football.

– This is very sad. He is one of the world’s greatest sportsmen of all time, not only in football, former football commentator Arne Scheie told NTB.

Scheie himself had seen Pelé play while commenting on the World Cup in England in 1966.

– Pelé is a unique player. What he has done speaks for itself. He is a fantastic role model for everyone involved in soccer, said Scheie.

– A unique player who has passed away, says TV 2 football commentator Øyvind Alsaker.

– He has become a benchmark for everyone who came after him. Pele won three World Cups. The first time was when I was 17 years old – very unique, says Alsaker.

Egil Drillo Olsen remembers Pelé best when Brazil played against the Soviet Union in the 1958 World Cup.

– At that time I was 16 years old and Pelé was 18 years old. I was quite close to the pitch, and since then I have followed him throughout his career.

– He is a symbol of perfection. There is nothing that he is very good at, but just has everything. Definitely one of the biggest, Drillo told TV 2.