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Santos FC has been relegated for the first time in the club's history
Photograph:
Du Caneppele / Pera Photo Press / IMAGO
About a year after the death of football legend Pelé, his beloved club FC Santos is second-class for the first time in the club's 111-year history. With a 1-2 defeat in front of their home crowd against Fortaleza EC on the last matchday, the two-time World Cup winners from the Brazilian port city slipped into a relegation place and were relegated to Serie B.
"We're going to get back to laughing," Neymar, who grew up at Santos, wrote on social media. The Brazil international, who joined Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia in the summer, watched the game on TV as he is currently sidelined with a torn cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee.
Pele had spent his entire professional career with Cosmos New York at Santos FC, which was founded on April 14, 1912. The three-time world champion died of cancer on December 29 last year at the age of 82.
While Palmeiras from São Paulo secured the championship, the fans of Santos FC were angry and disappointed after the first relegation. Videos of burning cars on the streets of Santos circulated on the social network X following the defeat to Fortaleza. "That was a historically bad night. First of all, we have to apologize with a lot of humility," said Technical Director Alexandre Gallo.
cev/dpa