Soccer iconPele was discharged from a hospital here in Brazil's largest city Thursday,five days after undergoing hip surgery.
The 72-year-old emerged from Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein Hospital to tellreporters, with tears in his eyes, that he "did not imagine" theBrazilian people would be so concerned about him.
Surgeons performed an arthroplasty procedure on Pele's right hip last weekend.
The operation prevented Pele from traveling to New Jersey to deliver thehonorary kickoff for the Brazilian national team's friendly match Wednesdayagainst Colombia, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Pele led Brazil to three of its record five World Cup titles.