Brazil

SANTOS, Brazil - The Brazilian coastal city of Santos, which sporting giant Pelé turned into a byword for soccer brilliance during a glittering club career, prepared to bid goodbye to its hero on Monday with a 24-hour wake.

A memorial will be held for Pelé, who died on Thursday at the age of 82 after battling colon cancer, at the Vila Belmiro stadium, the home of Santos Football Club.

"The expectation is huge, the whole world will be here," said local fan Roberto Santos. "Pelé needs no presentation. Pelé for us is everything."

While the world mourns Pelé's death, there is a question that people are constantly asking: How many goals did Pelé score throughout his career?

The answer is not easy and will depend on who is answering it. 

Since his irruption in the game in the 1958 World Cup, Pelé promptly showed the globe he was a goal-scoring machine and the image of him jumping with a fist into the air became iconic. The problem? Stats at the time were not as developed as today, so the counting was not as precise as today.

Brazilian soccer legend Pele's cancer has advanced and he requires care related to renal and cardiac dysfunction, according to a medical report, and his family said he would remain in a Sao Paulo hospital over Christmas.

Widely considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, the 82-year-old has been hospitalized in the Albert Einstein hospital since late November as doctors reevaluate his treatment and tend to a respiratory infection.

Pele has received regular medical treatment since a tumor was removed from his colon in September last year.