Pele leaves Sao Paulo hospital after back surgery

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Pele has been released from a Brazilian hospital after successfully undergoing back surgery.

Doctors say the 74-year-old soccer great left the Albert Einstein hospital on Monday, less than a week after undergoing a procedure for nerve root decompression.

The surgery had been scheduled to fix discomfort in Pele's back and hip.

Pele's manager Paul Kemsley said it was the first of two corrective procedures Pele will undergo in Brazil over the next few months to ensure the former player is "strong and healthy for the Rio Olympics and all of its related travel."

Pele underwent prostate surgery in May, and in December he was hospitalized for two weeks because of a urinary tract infection that stemmed from surgery to remove kidney stones.