Brazilians on Friday paid several tributes to Pele, one year after the three-time FIFA World Cup winner’s death at age 82 due to colon cancer.
A ceremony at Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer, one of the South American nation’s most famous postcard locations, featured a projection of a Brazil shirt with Pele’s name and No. 10 on the statue, and a message from Pope Francis.
Pele was a Catholic.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Pele, as Mr Edson Arantes do Nascimento became globally known, was undoubtedly an athlete who showed in his life all positive traits of a sportsman,” the pontiff said in a letter as a local orchestra played. “The memory of ‘the King of Soccer’ remains indelible in the minds of many, and it stimulates new generations to seek in sport a means to strengthen the bonds of unity among us.”
Other religious ceremonies were held at the Museu Pele in Santos, the port city he put on the map with his goals and success for the team named for the city, and in the small city of Tres Coracoes, where he was born in 1940.
The Santos club also held a tribute at its Vila Belmiro Stadium, where Edson Cholbi do Nascimento, one of Pele’s sons, released 10 white balloons from the center circle.
Pele’s funeral was held at the stadium.
FIFA also paid its respects with a video of highlights of the Brazilian great with a message: “Pele’s legacy will always live on.”
Earlier this year, a Brazilian dictionary paid a tribute to Pele by adding his name as an adjective to use when describing someone who is “exceptional, incomparable, unique.”
Pele spent nearly two decades enchanting fans and dazzling opponents as the game’s most prolific scorer with Santos and the Brazil national team.
In the conversation about soccer’s greatest, only Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi of Argentina, and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo are mentioned alongside him.
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