Death of Pelé: three days of national mourning decreed in Brazil

Three days to think back to his three World Cups.

As of Friday, Brazil declared a three-day national mourning after the death at the age of 82 on Thursday of "King" Pelé, considered one of the best football players of all time.

“A mark of respect after the death of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé.

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The health of Pelé, the only player in history to have won three editions of the World Cup (1958, 1962, 1970), had been worrying for several months: he was battling colon cancer and had been hospitalized at the end of November in Sao Paulo .

🔴🇧🇷#RIPPele: Christ the Redeemer, from the top of Mount Corcovado, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will be illuminated in green and yellow all night long in tribute to King Pelé.

#RipLegend #RIPPele pic.twitter.com/QjhJ8ae7Q3

— LSI AFRICA (@lsiafrica) December 29, 2022

“We love you endlessly, rest in peace,” one of her daughters wrote on Instagram.

Kely Nascimento had thus announced the death of the most famous Brazilian in history, surrounded by several members of his family for a few days at the Albert-Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo.

A 24-hour funeral wake, open to the public, will take place on Monday at the Santos FC stadium, the club where the eternal number 10 shone from 1956 to 1974. The funeral on Tuesday, on the other hand, will take place in the intimacy of the family, after a procession following the coffin in the streets of Santos, a port city 80 km from Sao Paulo, which has decreed seven days of mourning.

In front of the Sao Paulo hospital where “O Rei” died, fans held up a banner that read: “Eternal King Pelé”.

In Rio de Janeiro, the Christ the Redeemer of Corcovado, an emblematic monument which dominates the bay, was illuminated in homage to Pelé, as was the mythical Maracana stadium.