More than 230,000 folks attended Pele’s 24-hour wake within the Vila Belmiro stadium, the place a gentle stream of mourners continued straight via the evening.
(Reuters)
Brazil stated its remaining farewell to soccer legend Pele, broadly considered the best participant of all time.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva led the tributes on Tuesday.
A flood of followers, politicians and soccer dignitaries flocked to pay their respects to the participant often known as “The King” within the southeastern metropolis of Santos, house to the membership the place he spent most of his storied profession.
Santos FC stated greater than 230,000 folks had attended his 24-hour wake within the Vila Belmiro stadium, the place a gentle stream of mourners continued straight via the evening.
Lula, who took workplace Sunday in a ceremony that began with a minute’s silence for Pele, flew in by helicopter for the wake, greeting Pele’s widow, Marcia Cibele Aoki, who was in tears.
Visibly moved, the president and First Lady Rosangela “Janja” da Silva paused earlier than Pele’s coffin and embraced Aoki and different relations.
“Goodbye to the King. Rest in peace, Pele,” the president later wrote on Twitter.
Pele, the one participant in historical past to win three World Cups, scored a world report 1,281 objectives throughout his greater than two-decade profession with Santos (1956-74), the Brazilian nationwide staff and the New York Cosmos (1975-77).
He died Thursday at age 82 after a battle with most cancers.
READ MORE: What made Pele the G.O.A.T?
‘Pele was all the pieces’
His wake ended with a short Catholic service, after which 10 state police guards in gown uniform positioned the lid on his black casket.
Draped within the flags of Santos and Brazil, the coffin was then hoisted to the highest of a vibrant purple fireplace truck for an enormous funeral procession via the streets of Santos, together with previous the home of Pele’s mom, 100-year-old Celeste Arantes.
The funeral cortege will finish on the port metropolis’s Memorial Cemetery, the place a Catholic funeral service can be held earlier than Pele is interred in a 10-storey mausoleum that holds the Guinness World Record because the tallest cemetery on Earth.
Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele exploded onto the scene at age 15, when he made his skilled debut with Santos.
He went on to win the World Cup 3 times with Brazil, in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
Tributes from all over the place
Tributes have poured in from world wide since his demise, with a Who’s Who of present and former soccer greats hailing his genius for the “beautiful game.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who attended the wake Monday, known as Pele “a global icon of football” and stated the game’s governing physique would ask all member international locations to call a stadium within the participant’s honour.
Life-long Santos fan Katia Cruz, 58, who lives a block from the stadium, stated she had stood in line for 4 hours to get into the Vila Belmiro at 1:30 am, attending the wake with out her husband as a result of he was “inconsolable.”
“Pele was everything. He was the King. He deserves this tribute,” she stated.
She recalled Pele as a “very good, down-to-Earth person” who would all the time autograph the memorabilia folks delivered to his home.
“He was humble, a humility today’s players don’t have,” she informed AFP news company.
READ MORE:
‘He turned soccer into artwork’: Reactions to demise of soccer nice Pele
Source: AFP
