LIVE: Brazilians say goodbye to ‘King’ Pele for the last time

Brazilian start this Monday to say goodbye to his greatest football idol, Pelé, who died on Thursday at the age of 82, at a 24-hour public wake at the stadium The Saintsthe team in which he created most of his legend.

Vila Belmiro, house ‘fishesin South America’s largest port, expect a massive influx of Torcedors and fans of what many consider to be the best football player ever. Doors will open at 10:00 local time (13:00 GMT).

The remains of the only player to win three world championships (1958, 1962, 1970) arrived at the scene around 03:40 local time in a trailer that had left the hospital. Albert Einstein from Sao Paulowhere he has been hospitalized since November 29 and was fired by a handful of fans, AFP confirmed.

The black box will be located in the center of the grass of the sports facility, and the stands will have a capacity of 16,000 people, the São Paulo club said.

The stands are decorated with several flags of different sizes: one with “Oh king’on the back, showing the number 10 shirt he immortalized, and others with “Long Live the King”,”Pele 82 years” or “Santos 10 shirt”.

Entrance will be allowed “uninterrupted” until Tuesday at 10:00 local time, after which the procession will begin through the streets of Santos, 75 kilometers from Sao Paulo, and end at the city’s mausoleum with a burial reserved for the family.

In the same cemetery, from where you can see the building of Albinegra Vila Belmiro, the remains of the father, brother and aunt are buried Pele.

The funeral caravan will pass by the home of the legendary ex-footballer’s mother, 100-year-old Doña Celeste, who is unaware of her son’s death.

“We told her, but (…) she doesn’t know,” Maria Lucía do Nascimento, Pele’s sister, told ESPN on Friday.

Concurrency Wait

death fatal and a skilled former striker who scored 1,283 goals in his 21-year career, most of them in ‘fishes’, caused a shock outside the football world and drew condolences around the planet.

But his death as a result of colon cancer, diagnosed in September 2021, has not yet sparked massive demonstrations in Brazil: Few went to the hospital where they were treated in Sao Paulo and to vila belmiro in the days leading up to the funeral.

Possible reasons? Holidays at the end of the year that make Brazilians travel, a time that has passed (almost half a century) since ‘oh kinggone and the antipathy that causes in some sections of society his silence about the military dictatorship (1964-1985) and racism.

rest in The SaintsSilvio Neves Souza, 54, went on Sunday to take a photo with the bust and statue Pele which adorn the outer hall of the stadium’fishes’ decorated with flowers and letters left by subscribers.

An electrician who will not be able to pay taxes for his work in Sao Paulohopes that his compatriots will give him parting words for the match.

“I’m sure it will be great, many, many people, fans, not only ex-torcedors who accompanied their football, but also children” these two days will pass “, who will say goodbye to the” king “, he told AFP.

“I already knew I was leaving”

You can see flags around the football temple The Saints and from Brazil with stripes or black mourning ribbons. At another point in the city, where another monument to the former athlete was erected, flags with his face and figure fluttered.

“I charmed the world with a ball at my feet,” reads one.

Other tributes took place in Brazil, mainly during the inauguration ceremony of leftist President Luis Inácio. Lula da Silva Sunday at Brasiliawhich began with a moment of silence in his memory.

On the facade of the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) in Rio de Janeirothere is now a giant image of the former “10” wearing a Selesao T-shirt and the word “eternal”.

São Paulo State Military Police announce they will deploy ‘reliable facility’ for posthumous tribute Edson Arantis do Nascimento.

It will also increase security at the Congonhas airport in the capital Sao Paulo in anticipation of the arrival of athletes, politicians and government officials who will attend the wake, according to Folha newspaper.

Pele He was in the Albert Einstein Hospital for a month until his death on 29 December. From there, he followed the World Cup in Qatar and Canarinha’s elimination in the quarter-finals.

“We were with him” on December 21st, his sister Maria Lucia explained. “He was very calm, we talked a little, but I already understood that he felt it, he already knew that he was leaving.”

AFP