Pele will be moved out of intensive care in the next day or two as the Brazil football great continues his recovery from surgery, his daughter Kely Nascimento said.

The 80-year-old, three-time World Cup winner has been in the Alberto Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo since doctors removed a tumour from his colon earlier this month.

“He is doing well post surgery, he is not in pain and is in a good mood (annoyed that he can only eat jello but will persevere!). He will move into a regular room in the next day or two and then go home,” Nascimento said on Instagram.

“He is strong and stubborn and with the support and care of the brilliant team at Einstein and all of the love, energy and light that the world is sending, he will get through this!”

The hospital also said Pele is “awake, actively talking and keeping his vital signs in normality.”

Pele, the only male player to have won three World Cups, has had mobility problems since a failed hip replacement surgery in 2012. He has been forced to use walkers and wheelchairs in public. He is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 77 goals and one of only four players to have scored in four World Cup tournaments.

Lionel Messi recently passed him as the leading South American men’s scorer in international matches with a hat-trick in Argentina’s World Cup qualifying win against Bolivia.