Forty-five years on from when Pele graced the pitch for the final time, it's unfathomable to contemplate and mention the word football, and Brazil, without the indelible mark he left.
Geovana Sarmento, 17, waited in the three-hour line to view his body as it lay in repose at the stadium where he played for most his career. She came with her father, who was wearing a Brazil shirt with Pele’s name.
"I am not a Santos fan, neither is my father. But this guy invented Brazil’s national team. He made Santos stronger, he made it big, how could you not respect him? He is one of the greatest people ever, we needed to honor him,” she said.
Pele will be buried Tuesday in the city where he grew up, became famous, and helped make into a global capital of football. A Catholic Mass will be celebrated at the Vila Belmiro stadium before his casket is ushered through the streets of Santos to a nearby cemetery.
Brazil’s newly inaugurated President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was sworn in for a third term Sunday after a comeback victory, is expected to come to Vila Belmiro shortly before the coffin is removed from the stadium.
The football great died Thursday at age 82 after a battle with cancer. He was the only player ever to win three World Cups.
Thousands of mourners, including high school students and supreme court justices, filed Monday past the body of Pele on the century-old field where he made his hometown team one of Brazil’s best. Pele’s coffin, draped in the flags of Brazil and the Santos FC football club, was placed on the midfield area of Vila Belmiro.
The storied 16,000-seat stadium was surrounded by mourning fans, and covered with Pele-themed decorations inside. Fans coming out of the stadium said they’d waited three hours in line, standing under a blazing sun.
Caio Zalke, 35, an engineer, wore a Brazil shirt as he waited in line. "Pele is the most important Brazilian of all time. He made football important for Brazil and he made Brazil important for the world,” he said.
In the 1960s and 70s, Pele was perhaps the world’s most famous athlete. He met presidents and queens, and in Nigeria a civil war was put on hold to watch him play. Many Brazilians credit him with putting the country on the world stage for the first time.
Rows of shirts with Pele’s number 10 were placed behind one of the goals, waving in the city’s summer winds. A section of the stands was filling up with bouquets of flowers placed by mourners and sent by clubs and star players - Neymar and Ronaldo among them - from around the world as loudspeakers played a song named "Eu sou Pele” ("I am Pele”) that was recorded by the Brazilian himself.
The crowd was mostly local, although some came from far away. Many mourners were too young ever to have seen Pele play. The mood was light, as people filtered out of the stadium to local bars, wearing Santos FC and Brazil shirts.
Claudio Carranca, 32, a salesperson, said: "I never saw him play, but loving Pele is a tradition that goes from father to son in Santos. I learned his history, saw his goals, and I see how Santos FC is important because he is important. I know some Santos fans have children supporting other teams. But that’s just because they never saw Pele in action. If they had, they would feel this gratitude I feel now.”
Among those at the stadium was Pele’s best friend Manoel Maria, also a former Santos player.
"If I had all the wealth in the world I would never be able to repay what this man did for me and my family," Maria said. "He was as great a man as he was as a player; the best of all time. His legacy will outlive us all. And that can be seen in this long line with people of all ages here.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino told journalists that every country should name a stadium after Pele.
"I am here with a lot of emotion, sadness, but also with a smile because he gave us so many smiles,” Infantino said. "As FIFA, we will pay a tribute to the ‘King’ and we ask the whole world to observe a minute of silence.”
Another fan and friend in line was Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes.
"It is a very sad moment, but we are now seeing the real meaning of this legendary player to our country,” Mendes told journalists. "My office has shirts signed by Pele, a picture of him as a goalkeeper, also signed by him. DVDs, photos, a big collection of him.”
Pele had undergone treatment for colon cancer since 2021. The medical center where he had been hospitalized said he died of multiple organ failure as a result of the cancer.
Pele led Brazil to World Cup titles in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and remains one of the team’s all-time leading scorers with 77 goals. Neymar tied Pele’s record during this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
