Brazil says goodbye to an "immortal" Pelé who was the "best player of all time"

Two sensations were installed this Thursday in Brazil when the death of Pelé was known at the age of 82.

The one who died was not the footballer, who is eternal: only

And that "immortal" soccer player is also

one of the great Brazilian soccer analysts,

insisted on this vision in a text in

: "Pelé, the best soccer player of all time, an indisputable title at least for sensible people who watched soccer a lot. before and long after the athlete began and ended, between 1956 and 1977, his splendid career of

and

two for

and three for the Brazilian team".

Unlike the death of the Argentine

in November 2020, the death of Pelé at the age of 82

or unleash scenes of collective pain.

It was a death foretold that the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cup champion had dribbled with astonishing persistence over and over again in recent months since he was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2021.

Barely a hundred fans gathered at the gates of

the stadium of Santos, the team that made Pelé famous.

According to

Santos had been preparing for the farewell for days.

On Thursday night, an altar was already being set up in the stadium, where the wake will be held on Friday.

Pelé will be buried in a vertical cemetery in Santos, the

which since 1991 has been listed in the

as "the tallest in the world."

Pelé himself explained at the time of him to the newspaper

the reasons why he chose that site.

"I chose it for its organization, cleanliness and structure. It is a place that transmits spiritual peace and tranquility, where the person does not feel depressed, it does not even look like a cemetery."

Pelé's goodbye made two antagonistic figures coincide in their expressions, President

and who will succeed him in office this Sunday,

"We mourn the death of a man who, through soccer, carried the name of Brazil throughout the world. He transformed soccer into art and joy," the still president wrote on Twitter, who decreed a

Lula, five years younger than Pelé, went even further: "I had the privilege that the younger Brazilians did not have:

Not play. I saw Pelé give a show. Because when caught the ball he always did something special, which often ended in a goal".

In the midst of the barrage of reactions, articles and reminders that the news of Pelé's death unleashed, the photo with which his family sent him off, the hands of his relatives intertwined with those of the former soccer player in the hospital bed, had a high impact. .

The Brazilian media highlighted that Pelé "died peacefully and accompanied" by his loved ones after spending weeks in palliative care.

That photo moved Xuxa, a historic Brazilian television star and girlfriend of Pelé for six years, whom she called

The other story that drew attention in the midst of the star's farewell was that of

Pelé's mother, who will say goodbye to her son:

and is still alive.

Lionel Messi,

consecrated a few days ago as world champion in charge of

was concise in his farewell: "Rest in peace, Pelé."

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More loquacious was the president of the

who allowed himself to enter on the day of Pelé's death in the debate about who was the best footballer of all time: "The AFA, to through its president Claudio Tapia, regrets the death of the legendary Brazilian soccer player Pelé, one of the best players in history, and sends his warmest hugs to his loved ones and to all of Brazil".

Neymar,

the best Brazilian player today, found a phrase with ingenuity and precision to calibrate the dimension of the idol: "Before Pelé, 10 was just a number."

In an editorial,

noted that Pelé's "importance" went "far beyond the field of play."

"From the point of view of a country with very limited influence at the international level, we must point out immediately: Pelé was the Brazilian who achieved the greatest notoriety and world importance at all times. His name came to be confused with that of Brazil, sometimes driving it in recognition, if not surpassing it".

The newspaper recalled an anecdote during a

"The three-time soccer champion heard the president say: 'My name is

I am the president of the United States of America. But no You need to introduce yourself, because the whole world knows who Pelé is.'"

Personalities from around the world such as

remembered the late footballer.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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