Edinho (right) reacts during the wake for his father Edson Arantes do Nascimento ‘Pelé’ at the Vila Belmiro stadium, in the city of Santos (Brazil). Photo: EFE EFE AgencyThousands of Brazilians turned out en masse this Monday, January 2, 2023, to say goodbye to the greatest soccer player in history, ‘O Rei’ Pelé, who passed away last Thursday at the age of 82. It extended for more than two kilometers, winding for several blocks around the Vila Belmiro stadium, where the funeral chapel was opened to the public on Monday. The fans spent several hours in line, under a scorching sun in the middle of the Brazilian summer, to be able to see for a few seconds the lifeless body of the three-time world champion. The coffin rested under a white tent in the center of this hundred-year-old stadium, built in 1916, which is located in a residential neighborhood of low houses and narrow streets, now decorated with flags and posters that remember the mythical 10. Fans line up to enter the Vila Belmiro stadium on January 2, 2023. Photo: EFEChundreds of thousands of peopleThe mayor of Santos, Rogério Santos, calculated, in hand It was somewhat exaggerated, that about 300,000 people could go through the wake, which will remain open until Tuesday morning. That would mean a constant flow of more than 200 people per minute, but to the despair of many, the line was advancing at a much slower pace. However, the city of Santos, with 430,000 inhabitants, turned to say goodbye to its greatest idol. Many other Brazilians came mainly from a megalopolis like Sao Paulo, located 80 kilometers away, and from other more distant cities. Júlio César Júnior, 73, said he spent more than two hours in line to honor Pelé, whose career he followed with passion since he was a child. Pelé deserves it. I have followed Pelé since he was 19 years old and I was 10. I saw the historic goal he scored on Javari street (in Sao Paulo) against Juventus, I saw it, said Júnior. That historic goal dates from 1959 and was not recorded by television cameras. It is said that Pelé made three hats to get away from three rival defenders, before scoring with a header.Pelé, a figure of SantosFor Santos, Pelé means something more than for the rest of the Brazilians, since the three-time world champion was responsible for putting the world map to the city and its soccer club. Previously, Santos was only synonymous with a medium-sized city that had grown up around the largest port in Brazil, populated by humble dockers and rich barons who thrived on the international coffee trade .But with Pelé magic came, and the name of Santos was forever linked to the art of treating the ball well and to the charisma of Edson Arantes do Nascimento. FIFA President Gianni Infantino, upon arriving at the funeral, highlighted that Pelé was lucky enough to do something that very few people in the world can do: touch people’s hearts. One of those people is Aída Lúcia Santos, who did not hesitate to put up with the endless line and the torrid summer heat. ego to greet Pelé for the last time. Aída said that Pelé was everything to her, since she worked for fifteen years at the Vila Belmiro stadium when the former soccer player held a managerial position. It’s worth it, although I wouldn’t want to be in line to this. I wish I could say hello. He gave me an autograph that says ‘For Aída Lúcia, with love from Pelé. That is for few, he commented. The Brazilians will have time to say their last goodbye to Pelé until Tuesday, January 3, 2022, at 08:00 (Ecuador time) when the wake will close and there will be a funeral procession that will tour all of Sao Paulo, before heading to the cemetery, where a private ceremony will be held. Pelé died on December 29, 2022 in Sao Paulo due to complications from colon cancer that was diagnosed in 2021. Brentford defeated Liverpool in the Premier LeagueFIFA requests that stadiums in Ecuador and the world be named in honor of PeléVisit our portals:Quito’s news inwww.ultimasnoticias.ecLo best of soccer alonewww.benditofutbol.comNegocios and ventureswww.revistalideres.ecMás about the home inwww.revistafamilia.ecSigue to EL TRADE in Google News CLICK HERE let $oneByOneArticle = document.createElement(‘ned-ad’);
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