Brazil wakes up, Friday, December 30, for the first time in eighty-two years without Pelé, the “king” of football, who died the day before and for whom the country begins a three-day national mourning. The health of Pelé, the only winner of three World Cups and considered by many to be the best player of all time, had been shaky for a few months: he had been battling colon cancer, and had been hospitalized at the end of November in Sao Paulo.
“We love you to infinity, rest in peace” : it is with these words, published on Instagram, that one of his daughters, Kely Nascimento, announced the death of the most famous Brazilian in history, surrounded by several members of his family at the Albert- Einstein from Sao Paulo, where he had been hospitalized for a few days.
A few hours later, a decree announced a “official mourning” three days, “a mark of respect after the death of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé”. A funeral wake, open to the public, will take place on Monday and will last twenty-four hours, at the stadium of Santos FC, the club where the eternal number 10 shone from 1956 to 1974.
The funeral on Tuesday, on the other hand, will take place in the intimacy of the family, after a procession following the coffin in the streets of Santos, a port city 80 kilometers from Sao Paulo which has decreed for its part a mourning of seven days.
Christ the Redeemer of Corcovado illuminated
In front of the Paulista hospital where the triple world champion died, fans held up a banner which read: “Eternal King Pelé”. In Rio de Janeiro, the Christ the Redeemer of Corcovado, an emblematic monument which dominates the bay, was illuminated in homage to Pelé, as was the mythical Maracana stadium.
“Mourning” for the “immortal king of football”, headlines the Brazilian daily O Globo on his site, with images of the player in the national jersey, in particular the iconic one, where, all smiles, he raises his right arm, carried by his teammate Jairzinho seen from the back with his number 7.
The world of football expressed its emotion on social networks and drew the dimension of the character. “He made football an art”wrote Neymar, his distant successor under number 10 of the Brazilian team, and who equaled his national record of 77 goals for the Seleçao at the Qatari World Cup.
The political world has made a chorus, or team, to the highest peak of the state. In Brazil, of course: “Never has there been a number 10 like him”, reacted the elected president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will be invested on Sunday. Outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro for his part saluted the memory of the one who “carried the name of Brazil around the world”.