Next to Pelé's coffin: FIFA boss Infantino snaps a happily grinning selfie

Created: 01/03/2023 13:31

By: Marius Epp, Marc Dimitriu

Soccer legend Pele has died.

Brazil and the whole world mourn the loss of a unique player who is to be buried in his hometown.

Update from January 3, 1:12 p.m .:

The official wake for the late football icon Pelé took place on Monday.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino was unsurprisingly there and made a faux pas - also no longer surprising: in front of Pelé's coffin he shot a few selfies with former Santos players, the whole thing seems pretty bizarre.

The Swiss grins broadly in the photos.

Honoring the Brazilian legend in a dignified way - there's probably another way.

In his statement, Infantino then came up with an idea: "Now we have to make sure that we - the world of football - remember Pelé forever.

For this reason, I propose that all 211 of our member associations pay tribute to his memory by naming one of their stadiums in his honor.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino snaps a selfie in front of Pele's coffin.

© Andre Penner/dpa

It is more than questionable whether this extensive project can actually be implemented.

Infantino's unfortunate public appearances are now almost a habit.

Before the World Cup he gave a bizarre press conference ("Today I'm gay"), alongside Emmanuel Macron he caused an embarrassing moment.

Pelé's coffin is laid out in Santos

Update from December 30, 6:17 a.m .:

The coffin of the Brazilian football idol Pelé, who died on Thursday, is to be transported early Monday morning from the Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo to his hometown of Santos.

The funeral will take place there on Tuesday in close family circles, as Pelé's long-time club FC Santos announced.

Accordingly, the coffin with the corpse on Monday should first be laid out in the FC Santos stadium in the middle of the field.

The public wake is then expected to begin at 10 a.m.

The ceremony is scheduled to last until 10 a.m. Tuesday, when the funeral procession makes its way through the streets of Santos - including Channel 6, where Pele's mother, Dona Celeste, lives.

She recently turned 100 years old.

Brazil mourns football idol Pelé: national mourning ordered

Update from December 30, 6:04 a.m .:

After the death of football idol Pelé, the Brazilian government ordered a three-day national mourning.

This was announced by outgoing President Jair Bolsonaros in a decree published in the Official Journal on Thursday.

"We mourn the loss of a man who brought the name of Brazil to the world through football.

He turned football into art and joy,” the right-wing head of state had previously written on Twitter.

“May God comfort his family and receive him in his infinite mercy.

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Update from December 29, 9:45 p.m .:

Pelé left one last message to the world.

"His message today will become a legacy for future generations," said the Brazilian, who died on Thursday at the age of 82, on the social media accounts: "Love, love and love, forever."

On his trip, football icon Pelé "enchanted the world with his genius", stopped a war, did social work worldwide and spread what he "believed most about as a cure for all our problems: love".

Pelé is dead: soccer stars mourn the loss of the Brazilian legend

Meanwhile, the football world mourns the Brazilian legend.

Especially in his home country, numerous stars condoled to the deceased.

"Today I lost my brother.

As a Catholic Christian, I know that 'by dying one is born to eternal life,'" wrote Cafu, who won the 1994 and 2002 Seleção world title, on Twitter.

"See you one day, Pelé," he added.

Neymar, who wears Pelé's former number 10 in Brazil national team, wrote: “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 black people and above all to the other.

It gave Brazil visibility.”

Argentina's world champion Lionel Messi summed it up: "Rest in peace, Pelé." Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo wrote: "My deepest condolences to all of Brazil and especially to the family of Mr. Edson Arantes do Nascimento," as Pelé's real name was.

Pelé died: family confirms death of Brazil legend

First report from December 29, 2022:

São Paulo – World football mourns the loss of perhaps its greatest player.

Brazil's three-time world champion Pelé died on Thursday at the age of 82, his daughter Kely Nascimento said on Instagram.

He has been suffering from colon cancer for some time and recently had to be treated in the hospital.

Just a few days ago, the daughter of the three-time world champion published a photo from the hospital bed that seemed a bit like saying goodbye.

Brazilian football legend Pele has died.

© Alexander Zemlianichenko/dpa

Pelé died: Brazilian football legend dead

The exceptional player, who comes from a poor background, became world champions with Brazil in Sweden in 1958, in Chile in 1962 and in Mexico in 1970.

At the 1958 World Cup, he scored twice in a 5-2 win over hosts Sweden.

The 17-year-old was carried out of the stadium crying uncontrollably on the shoulders of his team-mates.

"I want to be remembered, not forgotten.

Only that!” Pelé, who was born in a small village called Tres Coracoes (Three Hearts), always wanted.

For more than 21 years he laced up his football boots until he left on October 1, 1977, making the number 10 shirt world famous - not as a classic playmaker, but rather as a hanging tip according to today's understanding of the game.

In love with dribbling, aiming for goals, shooting with the right or left, with violence or finesse, also floating in the air with a head or an overhead kick.

Soccer world champion Pelé is revered in Brazil like no one else

"The difficult thing is not to score a thousand goals like Pele, but one like Pele," wrote Brazil's poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade in an ode to the model athlete.

In his second life, the Afro-Brazilian, who came from a humble background, tried himself - rather mediocre, sometimes embarrassingly - as a singer, actor, sports minister or entrepreneur, used his fame as a football ambassador and turned his reputation into advertising campaigns.

"Very well, I'm Ronald Reagan, but you don't need to introduce yourself.

Every child knows who you are,” he was welcomed by the then US President in the White House.

One of many anecdotes surrounding the myth.