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The Brazilians say goodbye to King Pelé, and what better place to pay tribute to him than the Santos stadium, in the state of São Paulo, where he played from 1956 to 1974 and forged his legend. The iconic player’s remains arrived in the city on Monday morning before being installed in midfield for a 24-hour public vigil.
On Monday morning, the sun was already shining brightly in the Vila Belmiro neighborhood, but the queues were growing outside the number two entrance of the Santos club, the one reserved for people who wanted to personally pay their last respects to Pelé, as verified by our special envoys Annie Gasnier and Richard Riffoneau.
Some had been waiting since Sunday afternoon at the gates of the stadium that saw the footballer and his legend grow. At the door reserved for personalities, a crowd of Brazilian and foreign journalists watched the comings and goings. The President of Brazil, Lula, was expected, as well as the President of the International Football Federation, Fifa, Gianni Infantino.
Others wiped away their tears as they left the stadium, seizing the moment to regroup and remember or even sing a refrain celebrating Pelé’s 1,000 goal out of 1,281. Wesley, a regular at the club, declared: “It’s a sad day for us, but Pelé had to rest at some point and we had to celebrate today, because what he did for Santos and for us, no one will ever do again.” .
Larissa Ferraz, was both sad and happy for what Pelé has left the Brazilians. “For me, Pelé established something new: the first concept of ‘Brazilianness,'” she says.
“Before the 50s, nobody was proud of being Brazilian. And Pelé gave us that pride, when he achieved all his victories. As a black man, he became a reference. He was never a member of the black movements in Brazil, but his example was enough. Look at Jamaica, Bob Marley is the reference. Pelé and Bob Marley, two national references. And then, Pelé is for me the person who won everything that was possible in his life”, says Larissa Ferraz, who came to pay Tribute to Pele
The coffin of the only footballer to have won three World Cups (1958, 1962, 1970) will rest in the Vila Belmiro midfield. Entrance to the stadium will be allowed “without interruption” until 10 am (local time) on Tuesday, when a procession will take place through the streets of Santos, a city located 75 kilometers southeast of Sao Paulo, before the funeral, reserved to the family.
In the stands of the stadium, with a capacity for 16,000 spectators, three giant banners were placed: one showing Pelé from behind with the number “10” that the former attacker immortalized, while the other two read “Long live the king ” and “Pele 82 years”.
“We Have Arrived Home”
Pelé’s body arrived at midnight on Sunday from Sao Paulo in a funeral vehicle. Santos fans and onlookers were in the street to greet the procession, which was received with applause and firecrackers. Some relatives of King Pelé accompanied the coffin, such as his son Edinho, who wrote on social networks: “We have arrived home.”
