Brazil gave a final farewell with 230,000 people present for Pelé, the football legend who united a bitterly divided country. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, recently reinstated, paid tribute to him in Vila Belmiro, the stadium of his Santos, where he played for most of his career. The star player, who died last week at the age of 82, has been deposed in the very city where he rose to fame after moving to Santos FC at the age of 15. The funeral mass was held in the team’s Vila Belmiro stadium, before his black coffin was carried through the streets of the city in a fire truck.
The funeral procession
She was carried into the cemetery as marching bands played the team’s official song and a Roman Catholic hymn. Before the gold-wrapped casket arrived, the attendees sang samba songs that Pele liked. Some legends of Brazilian football were not present. Rows of Pelé number 10 shirts were placed behind one of the stadium doors, fluttering in the city’s summer wind. Bouquets of flowers deposited by mourners and sent by famous clubs and players – including absentees Neymar and Ronaldo – filled one section of the stands as loudspeakers played the song I am Pele engraved by himself. Among the most emotional moments was the passage of the coffin in front of the house of her mother, Celeste, who turned 100 just last November 20, the first day of the World Cup in Qatar. The old woman was unable to look out onto the street, given her delicate health conditions, but Pelé’s sister, Maria Lúcia, represented her, who in tears thanked the crowd who flocked to the scene.
The condolences of FIFA
The crowd was mostly local, although some came from far away and many of the attendees were too young to have seen Pele play. The atmosphere was light as people filtered out of the stadium to local bars, wearing Santos and Brazil shirts. The reason for so much emotion is easy to explain: many Brazilians credit Pelé with having brought the country to the world stage for the first time. Fifa President Gianni Infantino told reporters that every country should name a stadium after Pelé. “I’m here with a lot of emotion, sadness, but also with a smile because it has given us so many smiles,” said Infantino. “Like Fifa, we will pay tribute to ‘O King and we ask the whole world to observe a minute of silence.”
Illustrious defections
Among the heaviest defections that of the «Selecao» coach, Tite, as well as the Paris Saint-Germain champion, Neymar, considered by many to be Pelé’s direct heir. Kaka and Ronaldo weren’t there either. On the other hand, some former players and members of the current Santos team were present, such as Javier Zanetti, Yeferson Soteldo, Marcos Leonardo, Ângelo Gabriel, Elano, Zé Roberto, Léo and Emerson Sheik. Pele had been being treated for colon cancer since 2021. The medical center where he was admitted said he died of multiple organ failure from the cancer. The star player led Brazil to World Cup wins in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and remains one of the team’s all-time top goalscorers with 77 goals. Neymar tied Pele’s record at this year’s World Cup in Qatar.