Legendary Brazilian footballer Pele doesn't want to go out of his house, as he can barely walk without help, his son Edinho said.

The three-time World Cup winning footballer, considered to be the greatest player of all time, was taken to the hospital last year. He was suffering from urinary infection.

As BBC reports, Pele's son said on a television interview that his father has become very "sheepish, reclusive."

Edinho is Pelé's second child from his marriage to Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi. He admitted his father's spirit is dampened because of his lack of mobility.

Edinho said, "Imagine, he's the King, he was always such an imposing figure and today he can't walk properly. He's embarrassed, he doesn't want to go out, be seen, or do practically anything that involves leaving the house. He's pretty fragile. He had a hip replacement and didn't have adequate or ideal rehabilitation. So he has this problem with mobility and that has set off a kind of depression."

In recent years, Pele's health has been a concern. In 2015, Pele was twice admitted to the hospital in an interval of six months. The second time was when he underwent prostate surgery.

Pele and son Edinho
Picture taken on April 12, 2007 of Brazilian football star Pele (R) and his son, Edson Cholbi Nascimento, aka Edinho, in Santos, who has turned himself in to police after a judge ordered him to be jailed to serve his drug trafficking sentence MAURICIO DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images

The 79-year-old legend has had issues with his hip lately, and now he needs a frame to walk. Most of his recent public appearances saw him in a wheelchair. The most prominent was when he was photographed alongside Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2018 World Cup draw in Moscow. Just a month after that meeting, he was reported to have been hospitalised after he collapsed because of exhaustion.

Pele's illustrious 21-year career consists of a world record 1,281 goals in 1,363 appearances. This includes 77 international goals in 91 appearances for the Brazilian national team.

This upcoming June will mark the 50th anniversary of Pele's third and final FIFA World Cup title that he won with Brazil in Mexico. Many believe that the side that won the 1970 World Cup is the greatest team of all time. In 2007, that team was voted as the best of all time in a global poll of experts conducted by an international magazine.

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