Soccer legend recovering well from hip surgery in New York

Dimeji Akinloye 21:43 - 14 January 2016

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"(Pele) took advantage of his holidays to spend time in New York with his daughters and granddaughters and he had this small reparatory procedure," Pepito said.

Pele is recovering well from a small operation to repair his replacement hip, an official who works with the former Brazil, Santos and New York Cosmos great said on Thursday.

The 75-year-old triple World Cup winner had the preparatory operation at the Special Surgery hospital in New York on Dec. 3, Pepito, his long-time press officer, told Reuters.

He is currently undergoing physiotherapy and "everything is under control," Pepito added.

Pele had a new hip fitted in 2012 and has had several other health issues since. He spent two weeks in hospital for a urinary infection in 2014 and last May had prostate surgery.

With more than 1,280 career goals, and a record three World Cup titles, Pele, whose given name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, is considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time.