AMERICAS PRESS REVIEW
In the spotlight: the American continent pays tribute to “King” Pelé
A flower arrangement in memory of Brazilian soccer star Pelé at City Hall in Santos, Brazil, Friday, December 30, 2022. © Matias Delacroix / AP
Text by: Marie Normand Follow
5 mins
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Pelé occupies all the Unes in Brazil this Friday, December 30, often in full page.
The emotion is particularly strong in Santos, a few dozen kilometers from São Paulo.
This is where the football star got his start.
The city decreed not three – as at the national level – but seven days of mourning.
She has been preparing for this disappearance for months already, writes
Carta Capital
.
The day before, at the announcement of the disappearance of Pelé, many residents came to meditate in front of his statue in the city center, covered with wreaths of flowers, says
Diario do Litoral.
A Tribuna
gives the floor to Didi, Pelé's barber for more than 60 years.
The latter closed the doors of his living room, too shocked by the announcement of the death of the champion.
So yes, the newspaper thinks
in another article
titled “
Farewell to the King
”: “
The fans will still celebrate many goals, many titles.
But nothing will be how before.
Pelé appears from the back, with scepter and crown in
Extra
, or in black and white, victorious fist in the front page of
O Dia
.
Correio Braziliense
prefers to display a simple profile of the legendary player, drawn with a spindle, accompanied by his date of birth and the word "
eternity
" as a date of death.
Elsewhere on the continent, the press also paid immense tribute to the Brazilian "King".
The Mexican press points out that the legend of Pelé passed through the Azteca stadium in Mexico City, with this third world title in 1970.
La Nacion
,
in Argentina, brings out an old interview in which the footballer says he is a fan of Racing.
But according to
El Pais
,
in Colombia, it was Deportivo Cali that the Brazilian footballer carried in his heart, even if this team had beaten Santos FC in 1971!
“
Pelé has since left his name and his talent engraved in the memory of the inhabitants of Cali
”, concludes the daily.
“
Pelé was Brazil and Brazil was Pelé
”
For
A Tribuna
, in Brazil, “
Pelé changed the world and made Brazilians proud
”.
He was
"
Brazil's ambassador to the world
", says the
New York Times
, a "
living embodiment of his country
" and "
a source of pride for a nation that found itself, in part, through the magic of feet of a 17-year-old child prodigy
".
"
For a country that was still trying to make a name for itself in the post-war years, the arrival of Pelé marked Brazil's coming of age.
“, adds the American daily.
He notes that Pelé's rise corresponds to a period of economic boom in the country and coincides with the rise of bossa nova.
“
Brazil's confidence was then at its height, and in Pelé the nation found
'O Rei',
its king, a nickname that would remain attached to Pelé until his last breath.
»
► To read also:
From Neymar to Mbappé, from Lula to Macron, tributes from around the world to the "King" of football
A Pelé too lukewarm in his political positions
?
The footballer suffered many criticisms, on the other hand, for his lack of commitment against the dictatorship and racism.
The
New York Times
notes that the star footballer has rarely spoken on the issue.
But according to some observers interviewed by the daily, "
his mere presence
as a globally recognized black Brazilian was enough
".
“
Pelé wasn't American, but for a lot of young black footballers that didn't matter.
He was one of us ,”
USA Today
columnist Mike Freeman recalled
.
He "
wasn't Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, both of whom basically ignored racial issues.
Nor was Pelé Mohamed Ali or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who constantly broached racial issues.
Pelé was somewhere in between.
He thought he couldn't fight racism all the time.
He had to choose his battles.
»
Others regret that he did not take a stand either at a time when Brazil was ruled by a series of dictatorships, during which the Brazilian military sought to take advantage of the popularity of football to maintain their grip on the country.
"
One word would have meant so much in Brazil
," a former teammate told The
New York Times
.
But could he?
"
Tackling a dictatorship, after all, involved risks
", recognizes the daily.
An investiture in the midst of national mourning
The other news from Brazil, overshadowed by the death of Pelé, is the announcement of Lula's entire government team: 37 portfolios in all.
“
The holders of the 16 ministries of the new government which had yet to be defined
” are now known, writes
Carta Capital
.
Senator Simone Tebet will be in charge of Planning and MP Marina Silva inherits Environment.
Sunday January 1, the new president will be invested in Brasilia, in full national mourning.
It was only the next day, by decision of the family, that Pelé's body would leave Albert-Einstein Hospital in São Paulo at dawn.
The remains of the footballer will be escorted by the military police and placed in the center of the lawn of the Vila Belmiro stadium, for a 24-hour funeral wake, where Pelé made his debut, explains
O Globo
.
The public will be able to pay tribute to him until 10 a.m. the following Tuesday.
Then, the coffin will be transported in the streets of the city, in particular in front of the house of the mother of Pelé, before being buried in the strict family intimacy.
► To read also:
Pelé and African football, a mixture of respect and admiration
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