Pele’s son Edinho: 'Dad would have been sad at the state of Brazil team'

Brazil great Pele

Pele "would have been sad" at the state of the current Brazilian national team, his son Edinho has told AFP in an interview days before the first anniversary of his death on Friday.

Brazil have struggled in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and presently occupy sixth place in the South American table, the last spot that affords direct qualification.

The Selecao have struggled without their biggest current star, Neymar, who is a long-term injury absentee after tearing knee ligaments.

"This crisis didn't appear overnight, there are big and complex problems. There is no doubt, if [Pele] had been there this year, he would have been very sad," said Edinho, 53, who is one of Pele's seven children.

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"We are experiencing a decline...we still have great players but in previous times we had more high-level players than we do today," added Edinho, who was raised by his mother as Pele and her separated shortly after they moved to New York when he signed for New York Cosmos in 1975 but grew closer to him in later life.

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