On Tuesday, mourners lined the streets of Santos, Brazil’s coastal city, as Pele’s body was carried in a black casket from the Vila Belmiro stadium to the Necropole Ecumenica Memorial Cemetery, where he was laid to rest.
A band that performed a Christian hymn and the anthem for the neighborhood Santos football team, where Pele spent the majority of his career playing, greeted the casket as it arrived at the cemetery. As a tribute to the deceased sports hero, fans also sang samba songs to the coffin.
Pele was buried close to the graves of his father, aunt, brother, and daughter in a 200 square meter mausoleum. His final resting place will be decked out with photos of his career high points to resemble a football stadium.
Following a year-long battle with colon cancer, Pele passed away last week at the age of 82. A 24-hour public memorial service for him ended with his burial.
The three-time World Cup champion was laid to rest in an open casket on the midfield line of Santos’ Vila Belmiro stadium in front of more than 230,000 mourners, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Pele was born and raised in Santos, where he also rose to fame and helped turn the city into the soccer capital of the world. He is still the only athlete to have ever won three World Cups.
Outside the stadium, football supporter Thiago Mostazo told Al Jazeera, “Pele signifies a lot for us Brazilian people. It’s a difficult time, but it’s also a time to celebrate his life and his accomplishments as the greatest football player in history.
High school kids to Supreme Court justices were among the mourners, and some of them waited in line for hours to pay their respects to Pele in the historic stadium where he helped his hometown team become one of Brazil’s best.
From Monday night until Tuesday morning, people walked past Pele’s body. The Brazilian and Santos Football Club flags were flown over the coffin.
Inside the stadium, a huge banner said, “Long live the king.” Pele, known as the “king of soccer,” played for Santos from 1956 until 1974 and amassed over 1,000 goals during that time.
Most of the attendees were locals, however some traveled from other parts of the nation. Many mourners were too young to have ever witnessed Pele in action.
recently sworn in Tuesday morning, President Lula arrived by helicopter and stood next to Pele’s coffin in the middle of the field. Fans continued to pass by the casket as he attended a Catholic liturgy and offered Marcia Aoki, Pele’s widow, his sympathies.
Lula noted last week after Pele’s passing that “few Brazilians carried the name of our country as far as he did.”
Pele was arguably the most well-known athlete in the world throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He had encounters with presidents and queens; in Nigeria, a civil war was suspended so that he could play. He is credited by many Brazilians with introducing their nation to international prominence.
Authorities and well-known people also showed their appreciation. One of the first people to arrive at the tribute on Monday was FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who declared he would ask football federations all around the world to name a stadium after Pele.
