Soccer legend Pele ties the knot for third time
Brazilian football legend Pele, right, and his new wife Marcia Cibele Aoki. /Courtesy of Twitter
By Lee Han-soo
Brazilian football legend Pele married for the third time in Sao Paulo on Saturday.
Pele, 75, tied the knot with Marcia Cibele Aoki, a Brazilian of Japanese origin, after dating for six years.
The two were initially due to marry two years ago, but postponed the wedding after Pele suffered health problems.
The marriage was the second for Aoki, a successful entrepreneur in the medical supplies sector.
Pele celebrated with a Twitter photo of his wife and himself cutting their wedding cake with the words “Amor Definitivo,” which translates to definite love.
The newlyweds met at a party in New York in the 1980s, but only started dating in 2010 after meeting in an elevator.
“Two years later we met each other again in the same elevator,” said Pele told The Mirror, a British daily newspaper.
“I said I was renovating my apartment and Marcia, who was separated by then, invited me to see a home renovation she’d done.”
Pele led the Brazil to victory during the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups and has a Guinness Book record of 1,279 goals during his 22 years of professional football.