In Brazilian Sao Paulo began a farewell ceremony for football legend Pele, who died on December 29 at the age of 82 after a long battle with cancer.
On Monday, January 2, Pele's coffin was brought to the Vila Belmiro stadium, the home arena of Santos, for which Pele played almost his entire career..
A hearse with Pele's coffin, escorted by police, was taken from the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo, where the three-time world champion spent the last month of his life, to the football arena. Fans took to the streets of the city and staged fireworks to honor the memory of their idol. A large number of fans from the very morning began to line up on the streets and near the Santos arena with flags and banners that had images and the name of the "
The farewell ceremony with Pele will last the whole day - the coffin with his body was installed in the center of the stadium field so that everyone could personally honor the memory of the legend.
On Tuesday, January 3, Pele's coffin will be carried through the streets of Sao Paulo and delivered to the Memorial Necropole Ecumenica cemetery, located 850 meters from the Santos stadium.. Already there, a closed funeral ceremony will be held, where only relatives and friends of Pele will be allowed..
Recently, the health of the “king of football” has deteriorated sharply. In September 2021, Pele underwent surgery to remove a tumor on the right side of his colon.. Unfortunately, the cancer progressed and caused kidney and heart problems.. The 82-year-old Brazilian was undergoing treatment, but chemotherapy was no longer helping.
Pele is the only three-time world champion in history (1958, 1962, 1970).
At the club level, he played for the Brazilian Santos and the American New York Cosmos.. During his professional career, Pele scored 1281 goals in 1363 matches, including 1091 in 1116 games for Santos and 77 in 92 matches for the national team.
Pele was recognized as the best football player of the 20th century by FIFA and the International Federation of Football History and Statistics..
We will remind, earlier the doctors called the exact cause of death of Pele.