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.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
RSS