<h3 style="text-align: justify"><em><strong>Brazilian football legend Pele, 74, left hospital in Sao Paolo on Monday after successfully undergoing spinal surgery, doctors said.</strong></em></h3> <h3 style="text-align: justify"></h3> <p style="text-align: justify">Pele "was discharged today. The patient left the hospital at 4:00 pm," the Albert Einstein hospital in Brazil's financial capital said in a statement.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">An undated photograph provided by the hospital showed the former star forward of all-conquering Brazilian sides smiling, with his arm around his companion Marcia Aoki, and wearing street clothes.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">The hospital earlier said that Pele had undergone surgery for nerve root decompression in his back on July 14 and that he was recovering satisfactorily. The operation was "preprogrammed."</p> <p style="text-align: justify">Pele was suffering from compression of two vertebrae which had made him lose the strength in his legs, especially in his right leg, according to Brazilian media reports.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">The only player to have been in three World Cup-winning teams, Pele was reportedly due to undergo an operation on the problem last year but other health problems forced him to put off the surgery.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">Known as "O Rei" ("The King"), Pele has been admitted to the same hospital several times going back to 2012.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">In May, the global sporting icon was hospitalised for four days and had surgery for an enlarged prostate.</p> . <p style="text-align: justify">Last November, he underwent surgery for kidney stones and then came down with an infection that required treatment in a hospital intensive care unit for several days.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">His one remaining kidney -- the other was removed following a rib injury during his playing days -- stopped working and had to be treated with dialysis.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">He also had surgery on his femur in November 2012.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">Pele was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">The athlete, whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers to have played.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">Born on October 23, 1940, Pele won his first World Cup in Sweden in 1958 and was also part of the Brazil sides that triumphed in 1962 and 1970.</p> <p style="text-align: justify"><strong>By AFP</strong></p>