They came from across Brazil, streaming to the southeastern port city of Santos to pay their last respects to the greatest soccer hero ever to captivate the land of the “beautiful game”: Pele.
A line stretching 2km formed on Monday outside the Vila Belmiro stadium, home to Santos FC, the club where Pele played most of his storied career — and which held a 24-hour wake for him after his death on Thursday at age 82.
Wearing his black Santos jersey, Pedro Stolber and his wife, Clady, were among the first to line up outside the stadium, after making the trip from the southern state of Parana the day after Pele’s death.
Photo: AFP
“There are no words to describe it. He meant everything to football,” said Pedro, a 71-year-old medical engineering technician.
“It’s very moving to see everyone paying tribute to him. He’s the King,” Clady, 67, said.
Most fans were wearing the black-and-white colors of Santos, which Pele made world-famous.
Photo: Reuters
Widely considered the greatest soccer player of all time, Pele scored 1,091 of his 1,283 career goals in his 18 years with Santos, where he made his professional debut in 1956 at the age of 15.
The rest were scored with the Brazilian national team — with which he won an unprecedented three World Cups — and the New York Cosmos, where he played for two years before retiring in 1977.
Sixteen-year-old Cristian Abreu queued up outside the stadium at 6:30am, despite that Pele had been retired for three decades when he was born.
“I was never able to see him play, but he’s the legend of the thousand goals. He’s a myth, he’s huge to me,” he said.
Inside the stadium, fans were greeted by banners celebrating “The King” and loudspeakers playing a song, My Legacy, sung by Pele, who was also a sometime-musician.
“I am Pele thanks to you,” it goes. “My legacy is for you.”
Carlos Mota and his 12-year-old son Bernardo traveled more than 500km from Rio de Janeiro to honor Pele.
“My whole childhood was influenced by what Pele did for Brazil, by his World Cup wins. He was a national idol,” Mota, 59, said.
“I’ve always told my son, there are three indisputable facts: The ball is round, the grass is green and Pele is the greatest of all time.”
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