Thu, Jan 05, 2023 page7

• Pele buried in city he made famous

  MISSING STARS: Some mourners noted the absence of Ronaldo Nazario, Kaka and Neymar, with one woman questioning whether they would be remembered like Pele

  • AP, SANTOS, Brazil
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  Brazil on Tuesday said a final farewell to Pele, burying the legend who unified the bitterly divided country.

  Newly inaugurated Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva paid his respects at Vila Belmiro, the stadium where Pele played for most of his career.

  Pele died last week at age 82 and was laid to rest in Santos, the city where he became famous after moving there at age 15 to play for Santos FC. The funeral Mass was held at the team’s Vila Belmiro stadium before his black casket was driven through the streets of Santos in a firetruck.

  

  People gather around a firetruck carrying Brazilian soccer star Pele’s coffin to the Memorial Ecumenical Cemetery in Santos, Brazil, on Tuesday.

  Photo: AFP

  It was taken into the cemetery as bands played the team’s official song and a Roman Catholic hymn. Before the golden-wrapped casket arrived, attendees sang samba songs that Pele liked.

  Some Brazilian soccer legends were not there.

  “Where’s Ronaldo Nazario? Where’s Kaka, where’s Neymar?” asked Claudionor Alves, 67, who works at a bakery next to the stadium. “Do they think they will be remembered like Pele will? These guys didn’t want to stop their vacations. That’s the problem.”

  Geovana Sarmento, 17, waited in a three-hour line to view Pele’s body as it lay in repose. She came with her father, who was wearing a Brazil shirt with Pele’s name.

  “I am not a Santos fan, neither is my father. But this guy invented Brazil’s national team. He made Santos stronger, he made it big, how could you not respect him? He is one of the greatest people ever, we needed to honor him,” she said.

  Caio Zalke, 35, an engineer, wore a Brazil shirt as he waited in the line.

  “Pele is the most important Brazilian of all time. He made the sport important for Brazil and he made Brazil important for the world,” Zalke said.

  Pele in the 1960s and 1970s was perhaps the world’s most famous athlete. He met presidents and queens, and a civil war in Nigeria was put on hold so people could watch him play. Many Brazilians credit Pele with putting the country on the world stage for the first time.

  Rows of shirts with Pele’s No. 10 were placed behind one of the stadium’s goals, waving in the city’s summer winds. A section of the stands filled up with bouquets of flowers placed by mourners and sent by clubs and star players — Neymar and Ronaldo among them — from around the world as loudspeakers played the song Eu sou Pele (“I am Pele”) recorded by him.

  Although the crowd was mostly local, some came from far away, and many mourners were too young ever to have seen Pele play. The mood was light, as people filtered out of the stadium to local bars, wearing Santos FC and Brazil shirts.

  Among those at the stadium was Pele’s best friend Manoel Maria, also a former Santos player.

  “If I had all the wealth in the world I would never be able to repay what this man did for me and my family,” Maria said. “He was as great a man as he was as a player — the best of all time. His legacy will outlive us all. And that can be seen in this long line with people of all ages here.”
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