Santos, Brazil
An emotional Brazil began paying its final respects Monday to football legend Pele with a wake at the stadium where he first took the world's breath away with his dazzling skill.
Hundreds of fans lined up Monday morning to file through the Vila Belmiro, home to Pele's longtime club, Santos, where the coffin bearing the remains of "O Rei" (The King) was displayed in the center of the field.
Pele, a three-time World Cup winner widely considered the greatest footballer of all time, died Thursday at the age of 82 after a long battle with cancer.
Carlos Mota and his 12-year-old son Bernardo traveled more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) from Rio de Janeiro to Santos, a southeastern port city in Sao Paulo state, to pay tribute to their late hero.
"My whole childhood was influenced by what Pele did for Brazil, by his World Cup wins. He was a national idol," Mota, 59, told AFP.
People gather before the start of the wake for Brazilian soccer legend Pele taking place at Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo on January 2, 2023. A 24-hour wake for Pele will be held at Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos starting January 2, following by what is expected to be a massive funeral procession through the city before his burial at Santos's Necropole Memorial Cemetery in a private ceremony on January 3.
Photo credit: Miguel Schincariol | AFP
"I never saw Pele play, but I've seen the videos. He's the greatest player who ever walked the Earth," said Bernardo.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Alejandro Dominguez, head of the South American football confederation CONMEBOL, were among the first to pay their respects at the open coffin, which was displayed under an awning and surrounded by bouquets of white flowers.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino (right) greets the son of Brazilian football legend Pele, Edinho, during his wake at the Urbano Caldeira stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil on January 2, 2023. Brazilians bid a final farewell this week to football giant Pele, starting Monday with a 24-hour public wake at the stadium of his long-time team, Santos.
Photo credit: Nelson Almeida | AFP
The oceanside home of the team nicknamed "Peixe" -- "fish" in Portuguese -- is expecting a huge influx of fans looking to honor the "King" of football, who died aged 82 on Thursday after a long battle with cancer.
Stadium doors will open at 10:00 am local time (1300 GMT). The coffin bearing the remains of the only player to have won three World Cups will be displayed in the center of the field.
Known as Vila Belmiro after the neighborhood where it is located, the black-and-white stadium has a capacity of 16,000 people.
A hearse carrying the coffin of Brazilian football legend Pele arrives at Vila Belmiro stadium as fans mourn his death in Santos on January 2, 2023. A 24-hour wake for Pele will be held at Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos starting January 2, following by what is expected to be a massive funeral procession through the city before his burial at Santos's Necropole Memorial Cemetery in a private ceremony on January 3.
Photo credit: Miguel Schincariol | AFP
In the stands, three giant flags could be seen Sunday, one with an image of Pele displaying the famous number 10 on his jersey.
Another bore the message "Long live the king"; the third said simply, "Pele 82 years."
Entry to the stadium will be allowed until 10:00 am Tuesday, officials said.
After that, a procession will be held through the streets of Santos, a port city about 75 kilometers (47 miles) from the state capital Sao Paulo.
The parade will pass the house of Pele's mother, 100-year-old Celeste Arantes, who is unaware that her world-famous son has died.
"She doesn't know," Pele's sister Maria Lucia do Nascimento told ESPN on Friday. "She is not conscious."
The procession will end at a cemetery in Santos, where Pele will be interred in a special mausoleum.
Tributes to 'eternal' star
Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele is widely considered to have been the best player yet of the beautiful game.
His death sparked a global outpouring of tributes, with his native Brazil holding three days of national mourning.
He scored 1,283 goals in a career of 21 years, most of them played at Santos.
Wreaths of flowers left by his fans have brought a splash of colour to Vila Belmiro, which houses a bust and a statue of the football great.
A man carries a flower wreath inside Vila Belmiro stadium before the start of the wake for Brazilian soccer legend Pele in Santos, in Sao Paulo on January 2, 2023. A 24-hour wake for Pele will be held at Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos starting January 2, following by what is expected to be a massive funeral procession through the city before his burial at Santos's Necropole Memorial Cemetery in a private ceremony on January 3.
Photo credit: Miguel Schincariol | AFP
Silvio Neves Souza, an electrician on holiday from Sao Paulo, took a moment Sunday to visit the stadium since he will not be able to attend the official ceremony.
"I'm sure a lot of people will come to the wake, not just old people who saw him play, but also young people," the 54-year-old said.
Elsewhere in the city, banners with Pele's face decorate another monument erected in his likeness.
"I loved the world with the ball at my feet," read one sign.
At the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, a giant poster with Pele's image bears the word "eternal."
And at the inauguration on Sunday of Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the ceremony began with a minute's silence in Pele's memory.
Military police in Sao Paulo state, where digital street screens also pay tribute to the prolific striker, said there would be a "robust" deployment for the posthumous tributes.
Security will be strengthened at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo ahead of the expected arrival of throngs of athletes, politicians, dignitaries and fans for the wake.
Pele had been hospitalized at the Albert Einstein Hospital for a month until his death on December 29.
"We were with him" on December 21, his sister recounted. "It was very quiet, we talked a little, but I already sensed that he was feeling it, he already knew he was leaving."
Born on October 23, 1940, Pele grew up selling peanuts on the street to help his impoverished family.
He got his famous nickname after mispronouncing Bile, the name of a goalkeeper at Vasco de Sao Lourenco, where his footballer father once played.
A child waits for the start of the wake for Brazilian soccer legend Pele taking place at Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo on January 2, 2023. A 24-hour wake for Pele will be held at Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos starting January 2, following by what is expected to be a massive funeral procession through the city before his burial at Santos's Necropole Memorial Cemetery in a private ceremony on January 3.
Photo credit: Miguel Schincariol | AFP
Pele exploded onto the scene at age 15, when he started playing professionally with Santos.
At just 17, he helped Brazil to its first World Cup championship, in 1958.
That was followed by World Cup titles in 1962 and 1970. The latter marked the pinnacle of his career, as he starred on what many consider the greatest team of all time.
He remained active on social media, cheering on Brazil during the World Cup in Qatar and consoling the pre-tournament favorites when they were eliminated in the quarter-finals just three weeks before his death.
