Pele Funeral: The date of Pele’s burial has been set, and the departing president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has proclaimed three days of national mourning in honor of the late football great. Pele passed away on Thursday.
Pele, who will be buried on January 2nd, was 82 years old and battled severe colon cancer.
Following this, football, sports, and other sectors have poured in tributes. Barack Obama, Neymar, and Lionel Messi are just a few of those who have paid their respects.
The body of the greatest football player of all time will be interred at Estadio Urbano Caldeira in Vila Belmiro, where he dazzled the world, according to a statement from Pele’s old team Santos.
According to Brazilian news outlet G1, Bolsonaro, who will step down as president on January 1, issued a proclamation that read: “Official mourning is declared throughout the country, for three days, counted from the date of publication of this Decree, as a sign of regret for the death of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele, a former football player.”
Pele, who won the World Cup three times in 1958, 1962, and 1970, is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time.
Along with Neymar, he still holds the record for most goals scored in a single season in Brazil with 77. He also put 643 plans in 659 games with Santos, a fantastic feat.
Kelly, his daughter, spoke of her father’s passing: “Everything we are is thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace.”
Where Was Pele Born?
Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born in 1940 in Três Coraçes, an interior city some 155 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro before his family relocated to Bauru in So Paulo.
Even the football player doesn’t know the origin of the name Pelé. He once said that it possibly started as a result of classmates making fun of him for incorrectly pronouncing another player’s nickname, Bilé, in the British newspaper The Guardian. The name stuck, whatever the origin.
When he was a little boy, he played soccer for the first time while wearing just socks and rags bundled into a ball. From this modest beginning grew a long and fruitful career.
But he didn’t have high hopes when he first began to play.
“My dad was a terrific football player; he scored many goals,” Pelé said to CNN in 2015. I wanted to be like Dondinho, who went by that name.
He was well-known in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state. He was my role model. Though I’ve always aspired to be like him, only God can account for what happened.
Pelé fled home before turning 16 and began training with Santos as a teen. He quickly scored the team’s opening goal. He would achieve 619 goals in his 638 club matches, but he is best remembered for his accomplishments while donning Brazil’s iconic yellow jersey.
The world first saw Pelé’s fantastic potential in 1958, when he made his World Cup debut at age 17. In the nation’s victory over Wales in the quarterfinals, he scored the only goal for Brazil. Then, he scored a hat trick in the semifinal match against France and the championship match against Sweden.
Sigvard Parling of Sweden commented, “I have to be honest and confess I felt like clapping when Pelé scored the fifth goal in that final.”
The competition’s highlight for Pelé was putting his country on the sporting map.
He said to CNN’s Don Riddell in 2016 that “after Brazil won the World Cup, everyone knew about Brazil.” “Since we became well-known after the World Cup, I think this was the most important gift I could have given to my country,” the author claims.
In 1962, Brazil won the World Cup again, but Pelé missed the final stages because of an injury. Brazil was eliminated after the group stage during his subsequent campaign in 1966, hampered by several infirmities, but redemption came in 1970.
Pele Is One Of The Best Players Ever
Pele’s lively personality and superb dribbling abilities, a characteristic of his game, helped the Cosmos capture the North American Soccer League championship before he formally retired from the sport in 1977.
The league’s roster was expanded to include Giorgio Chinaglia and Franz Beckenbauer, but it would not last, collapsing in 1984. However, Pelé’s impact was felt all across the world.
Sponsorship agreements and his outspoken political advocacy for Brazil’s poor helped him gain fame. He spent many years promoting peace and providing relief to needy young children while serving as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Persistent health problems primarily characterized Pelé’s final years. In a documentary released last year, he was seen dismissively tossing aside a walker that he used to assist him in moving around. He underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his right colon in September 2021.
Pelé had been receiving continuing cancer treatment for the preceding year. He was in the hospital in Sao Paulo in November while the 2022 World Cup was held in Qatar, which sparked a global show of support from soccer fans.
There will undoubtedly be a lot of discussion about whether Pelé’s accomplishments can be compared to those of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, who have changed soccer’s record books over the past 15 years, or to Diego Maradona, the late Argentinean star who captivated the footballing world in the 1980s and 1990s.
Although FIFA named Maradona and Pelé as its joint winners of the Player of the Century award in 2000, numerous people felt there should be a clear winner.
