The farewell ceremony with Pele turned into a national mourning in Brazil.
On December 29, the legendary football player died, and on January 2, a civil memorial service began for him.
It is symbolic that it took place at Vila Belmiro, the home stadium of Santos, where the striker played a huge number of bright matches and scored many beautiful goals.
In order for everyone to have time to say goodbye to the three-time world champion, the event was extended for a day.
Pele set off on his last journey on Monday night.
The hearse, escorted by police cars, traveled about 80 km from the Albert Einstein Hospital to the arena.
Fans met her along the route of the procession.
Many of them were on their knees.
Others lit fireworks and fireworks right on the roadside.
The memorial service began at 16:00 Moscow time.
All the relatives of the Brazilian gathered at the stadium, including the sons of Edinho and Joshua Nascimento, as well as the widow Marcia Aoki.
The former midfielder of Bayern and Bayer Ze Roberto, who also managed to play for Santos, helped carry the coffin to a special pedestal.
One of the first to take the podium was FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Warmly hugging Edinho, he offered to name a stadium in every country after Pele.
“I feel a lot of emotions: I am sad, but I smile, because Pele gave us a lot of smiles.
We at FIFA will honor the King and ask the whole world to honor his memory with a moment of silence.
In addition, we intend to call on all countries of the world to name at least one arena in honor of Pele, so that our children know how important he is, ”the R-Sport functionary quotes.
In turn, the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, Ednaldo Rodriguez, recalled how, at the age of 13, he first saw the striker's game with his own eyes and was delighted with it.
But the striker of the Brazilian national team and PSG Neymar did not attend the memorial service.
It was planned that he would fly to his homeland, but on Monday the striker had a training session with the team after losing to Lance in Ligue 1. At the same time, he himself did not enter the field in the match due to disqualification.
However, the Parisian club paid tribute to the great football player by sending a mourning wreath to the ceremony.
But the main characters on this day were not guests of honor at all, but ordinary people.
Tens of thousands of ordinary Brazilians with their whole families came to Santos to say goodbye to the King.
Almost all of them put on T-shirts of either the national team with the tenth number on the back, or Santos.
Those who did not have time to prepare could buy everything they needed near the entrance to the stadium.
In order to prevent a crush and allow everyone to say goodbye to Pele, the fans were not allowed to linger at the pedestal with the coffin.
They tried to direct the crowd past him as quickly as possible.
However, all these measures did not save from the formation of a huge queue, which stretched for a whole kilometer.
Moreover, some came to the stadium much in advance.
The painter Emilio Carmo do Lima from Sao Paulo surprised the journalists the most.
In order to be the first, he arrived at the place late in the evening the day before and spent the whole night and morning near the arena.
“We have lost a man who meant a lot to the Santos fans, who gave us a lot of joy.
I think fans of other teams also feel his departure, because he was the property not only of the club, but of all of Brazil and even the world.
Well, who didn’t root for him?”
— the man shared his emotions.
The next day, farewell to the King continued.
In the morning, people again passed through a special corridor around the tent where Pele's coffin stood - in just two days, about 230 thousand people visited the stadium.
However, it was difficult for them to see anything, because a large number of VIP guests also crowded inside.
To pay tribute to the Brazilian came the head coach of “Santos” Odair Elman with the team, as well as the President of the country Lula da Silva, who recently took office.
The head of state calmed the widow of the legendary player, who could not hold back her tears.
Neymar's father also showed up.
He apologized for the fact that the PSG forward could not fly himself.
“My son asked me to come here instead of him,” Neymar Sr. explained.
When everyone gathered, the priests read the last prayers, and after Pele's coffin was lifted by eight military men in full dress and carried out of the stadium.
The procession proceeded through the streets of the city, including past the house where the 100-year-old Brazilian mother still lives, and completed its journey in the necropolis.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Santos to pay their respects to Pele.
Fans with drums sang songs in honor of the King, and car horns blared incessantly as the procession moved forward.
The coffin was carried on a large fire truck, covered with the flag of Brazil.
The funeral procession was accompanied by an honorary escort of military police motorcyclists.
It should be noted that escorting a person on their last journey in a fire truck is a local tradition.
Pele's national team partner, two-time world champion Garrincha, who died in 1983, received the same honor.
He was taken through the streets of his native Rio de Janeiro.
The King found eternal rest in the unique Ecumenica Necropolis, a 32-story building located near the Santos Arena.
In it, in addition to the tombs, there is a chapel, ritual halls, a crematorium, a museum and a place for memorial meals on the roof.
Pele's last wish was to choose the ninth floor of the necropolis.
This is a special tribute to his father, who, as a player, always wore the number nine jersey.
In addition, there is a magnificent view of the Vila Belmiro stadium from there.
However, contrary to the request of the Brazilian, he was buried on the ground floor.
Later this place can be made available to fans.