The death of Pelé, O Rei, the most eternal and international of Brazilian idols, has left his compatriots dejected this Thursday and plunged into nostalgia for the times when Brazil was synonymous with triumph.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the perfect soccer player with worldwide fame, has died at the age of 82 at the Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo where he had been hospitalized for a month due to complications from colon cancer.
There he spent last Christmas with his wife and surrounded by his children and grandchildren.
The news, as feared as expected during this agonizing end of the footballer, has arrived shortly after four in the afternoon local time.
His eldest daughter, Kely Nascimento, the one in charge in recent weeks of reporting on Pelé's evolution, has announced it with a delicate message on Instagram.
“Everything we are is thanks to you.
We love you infinitely.
Rest in peace, ”she says next to three hearts (this is the name of the city where the soccer player was born) and a photo of clasped hands.
Immediately, the front pages of the Brazilian newspapers have forgotten the news of the day —the new ministers who will accompany Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the Government starting Sunday— to pay tribute to the man who brought so much joy to Brazil, with his art and his three world cups.
Pelé symbolized the promising and triumphant Brazil.
The nickname of the man who played soccer in 66 countries became synonymous with excellence.
"Before Pelé, 10 was just a number," Neymar, the current 10 of the Brazilian team, recalled on Instagram.
A number that Pelé took to the top.
No one but him treasures three World Cups, nor has any country except Brazil won five World Cups.
He also recalled that Pelé turned football into art, into entertainment and maintains that he "gave a voice to the poor, to blacks and mainly, gave visibility to Brazil."
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With the 10 behind him, the Argentine Messi conquered the World Cup in Qatar with his teammates just a few days ago, which Pelé followed on television from bed, as his family told.
"Rest in peace", the head of the albiceleste has fired him along with a photo of both.
La Canarinha aspired to give him the sixth.
The president of neighboring Argentina, Alberto Fernández, said goodbye to him with a diplomatic tweet: "One of the best footballers in history has left us," he said in a wink to Maradona and the rest of his compatriots.
Le Jeu.
Le Roi.
L'Eternite.
Oh Jogo.
O King.
To Eternity.
pic.twitter.com/ZjeaF7zIGx
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 29, 2022
While President Fernández or his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, published messages paying tribute to the Brazilian who made soccer a matter of planetary fame, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro remained mired in silence.
Bolsonaro practically withdrew from public life two months ago, when he lost the elections.
The president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, recalled on Twitter that he knows first-hand the king's magic.
“I had the privilege that the younger Brazilians did not have, I saw Pelé play live.
I saw him put on the show.
Because when he grabbed the ball he always did something special and often ended in a goal”.
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