Family and friends stand in front of an open coffin in Santos, as the FIFA president calls on countries to call stadiums after the soccer legend.
Thousands of mourners braved the scorching heat to pay their respects to soccer legend Pele on Monday when FIFA’s president said he would ask member countries to name a stadium after the recently deceased Brazilian player.
Fans covered the 106-year-old Vila Belmiro field outdoors in Santos, the southeastern Brazilian city where Pele first proclaimed himself a star goalscorer in the 1950s, overnight and around 10 a. m. M. , mourners began to march beyond the coffin. which had been placed under a shaded tent in the middle of the field.
Family members, plus Pele’s widow Marcia Aoki and sons Edinho and Joshua, as well as dozens of friends and former teammates, stood next to the open coffin, some crying.
Media around the world watched from the main rostrum as enthusiasts, most dressed in shorts and many wearing Santos T-shirts, passed in silent tributes a few meters from the side of the coffin.
Three sides of the 16,000-seat stadium were draped in Santos flags celebrating the life of the city’s favorite son, and the PA formula occasionally played some of the songs Pele had recorded in a parallel career as a singer and songwriter.
“LONG LIVE THE KING,” read a banner along with others showing his face and the famous shirt with the number 10.
“I had to come and pay my respects,” said Roberto Morais, a 67-year-old who traveled 50 miles to see Pele for the last time. “I had to say goodbye. He, the king, taught the whole world. “.
Pele died Thursday afternoon at the Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo after a long illness. The former Brazil foreigner and Santos and New York Cosmos player was diagnosed with colon cancer in September 2021 and was hospitalized for a year.
Her cancer stopped responding to the remedy in November and doctors said her death was the result of “multiple organ failure. “
Pele’s frame remained in hospital the new year and drove 50 miles to Santos’ court early Monday morning, where he was deposited in midfield.
Fans will be able to walk past the casket for 24 hours before it is buried Tuesday. Pele will be buried in a 10 a. m. service. Tuesday at the Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica, a vertical cemetery that can hold 14,000 bodies. .
Long queues formed on Monday, winding through the narrow streets surrounding the pitch where Pele has played several of his more than 1,000 games for the club.
The atmosphere respectful but noisy, with the presence of dignitaries and politicians ensuring a strong police presence and helicopters flying overhead.
Among the mourners who crossed barriers and through the scuffle of fans and media were Gianni Infantino, president of Fifa, and Alejandro Dominguez, president of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL).
Infantino would ask FIFA member countries for a special tribute to the three-time world champion.
“We are going to ask each and every country in the world, each and every federation in the world, and there are 211 FIFA member countries, to call one of their stadiums with Pele’s call,” Infantino said. of the world, young people – 20 years from now and 50 years from now and a hundred years old – will have to not forget Pele.
“And they have to [Pelé] in a position where you score goals, where groups win, and maybe they also lose, but feelings happen. “
Other enthusiasts paid their own respects, adding flags and fireworks, and members of the organized enthusiast organization known as Torcida Jovem (Young Amateurs) volunteered in the narrow open-air streets.
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“Pele called us young fans, that’s what we call ourselves,” said Cosme Damião, who founded the organization in 1969. “And he means a lot to me ever since, and we have friends.
“Brazil one thing before Pele and another thing after. The people of Santos one thing before Pele and another after.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born in the city of Tres Corações (Three Hearts) but grew up in Bauru, a medium-sized town 250 miles inland from Santos.
The 15-year-old arrived in the port city for a trial in 1956, and after impressing coaches, he temporarily discovered his feet and became a staple of the first team.
Less than two years after debuting with the club, he called up the Brazilian team that went to the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.
Pele missed the first two games due to injury, but scored six times in the last 3 games, adding a brace in the final against the host country, to give Brazil their first world title.
An injury meant he played a small role when Brazil effectively defended their trophy in Chile 4 years later, and in 1966 they were expelled from the tournament when Brazil was eliminated in the organizing stage.
However, 4 years later, he made the greatest triumphant comeback imaginable by leading what is considered one of the greatest groups of all time to a third record World Cup victory in Mexico.
His teammate Clodoaldo congratulated his friend and repeated the oft-heard claim that Pele is still the greatest to have played the match.
“Pele showed in 1970 why he is king,” Clodoaldo said. “The crown is yours from that moment on. “
“People who are attached to football know that other young people who haven’t seen Pele play have doubts about him, and they ask me, ‘Was he really that smart?’I tell them: if you take a little bit of each and every crack you cherish today, you could be close to being as smart as Pele.