Enlarge image
Pele with Kylian Mbappe.
A photo from the 2019 meeting was tweeted by the French superstar after the legend's death
Photo:
FRANCK FIFE / AFP
The football world mourns the loss of its king.
At least the first reactions to the death of the Brazilian football legend Pelé go in this direction.
»The king of football has left us.
But his legacy will never be forgotten," wrote French superstar
Kylian Mbappé
on Twitter, sharing a picture of the two.
After the World Cup final, Pelé recognized Mbappé's outstanding performance.
Other greats of Brazilian and international sport also commemorate Pelé.
Neymar
, once celebrated as Pelé's successor in Brazil, wrote in an emotional statement on Instagram: "Before Pelé, 10 was just a number.
I read that sentence somewhere, sometime in my life.
But this sentence, beautiful as it is, is incomplete.
I would say that before Pelé, football was just a sport.
Pele changed everything.
He turned football into art, into entertainment.
He gave a voice to the poor, to the blacks, and above all: he made Brazil visible.«
Romario
, Brazil's 1994 World Cup winner, said: " Edson
Arantes
do Nascimento made the world bow to his talent and brought Brazilian football to the altar of the gods."
never be enough to express the pain that is gripping the entire football world right now."
Cafu
, the Brazilian world champion captain of 2002, wrote on Twitter: "Today I lost my brother" and said goodbye with the words "see you one day".
Current Brazil international
Casemiro
, who plays for Manchester United in the Premier League, tweeted: "Thank you for the glory you brought to Brazil and football."
"Pelé was much more than just the greatest athlete of all time," said the Brazilian Football Association on Instagram.
»As a poor black boy who was born in Três Corações, Pelé showed us that there is always a new way.«
Football clubs from all over the world also condoled to the deceased.
Santos FC
, where Pelé spent most
of his career, tweeted just a picture of a crown and wrote the Brazilian word "Eterno" which means "eternal".
Bundesliga club
Borussia Dortmund
wrote: "Descanse em paz, Pelé".
In German: »Rest in peace«.
hba/kfr/sid
