In the city of Santos (Sao Paulo state), after a day-long official farewell ceremony, the legendary Brazilian football player Pele was buried. The 'King of Football' died on December 29 at the age of 82 after a long battle with cancer..
According to the AP, on January 3, the coffin with the body of Pele was taken from the Vila Belmiro stadium, the home arena of Santos, where everyone had the opportunity to personally honor the memory of the legend..
The black coffin was wrapped in a Brazilian flag and driven through the streets of the city in a fire truck, and then carried past the house of his 100-year-old mother, Celeste.
About 250 thousand people came to see Pele on his last journey. With tears in their eyes, they chanted the name of their idol and gave a loud applause in his honor..
The funeral ceremony itself was closed, only relatives and friends of Pele were allowed to attend it.
The legend was buried at the Memorial Ecumenical Cemetery. It is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest vertical cemetery in the world.. The building has 32 floors and contains about 16,000 burial places.. Pele himself chose a place for himself on the ninth floor of the cemetery, having bought it 19 years ago.. His father, aunt, brother and daughter are also buried here.. The 200-square-meter Pele mausoleum on the ground floor will be designed as a football stadium, while the coffin will be displayed in the middle of an artificial turf, surrounded by gilded images from his glory days, according to the cemetery..
Pele's death: what is known Pele died in a Sao Paulo hospital at the age of 82. Recently, the health of the " 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 Brazilian was undergoing treatment, but chemotherapy no longer helped.
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.