Pelé's death at the age of 82 from colon cancer monopolizes the front pages of newspapers around the world. Obviously starting with those of Brazil, where there will be national mourning for three days. O Globo says he is "saddened" by the loss of the "immortal king of football" , while Estadao puts a more grim headline "Pele is dead, football loses its king". Perhaps the most intense tribute comes from the pages of the Folha de Sao Paulo, for which O Rei "showed the power of sport and pushed the limits of celebrity". The final praise was heartbreaking: "There are no words in any language in the world that can express his exploits and the fascination he has aroused around the globe with his art of playing football like no other. Never before on this planet one person has brought together all the fundamental elements of a game like him, not surprisingly in the most popular ever".
Even Argentina, despite the alleged rivalry with Diego Armando Maradona (and Lionel Messi), paid homage to a legend that will never end . On the Clarin we read that Pelé was "the first star of football, a great among the greats". Same concept expressed by Olé: "Apart from the rivalry that exists between Argentina and Brazil, no one can doubt that Pelé was one of the greatest footballers in history". The United States is colder, where soccer is certainly not the main sport. The New York Times, for example, does not publish the story of Pele's disappearance on its front page . "The best way to understand what he represented for football is that his no had become synonymous with excellence. And this despite the fact that few people saw him play," Rory Smith explained to his readers. In England, however, The Guardian underlines how it was the former green and gold star "who established the standards of excellence by which footballers are now judged".

Then the legends of the sport. Michael Jordan , for many the best basketball player of all time, pays homage to Pelé and does so almost wanting to take second place to those he considers greater than him. In fact MJ publishes the photo of an event in 1999 in which Sport Illustrated managed to bring together many legends of US sport including Pele, who was considered 'at home' for his past in the NY Cosmos. And in that image Jordan had placed himself in the back row, between Bill Russell and Tiger Woods, while Muhammad Ali, Pelé and Kareem Abdul Jabbar were in front of the Chicago Bulls phenomenon. And Jordan refers to Ali and O Rei who were close in that photo, writing «what a moment that day was (1999) with the greatest of all time... you are right next to #Ali, you are the essence of greatness. Rest in peace #Pelé, and the others we have lost. Condolences to the family and friends going through these hard times."

In Italy, among others, Gianni Rivera intervened: «My friend Pele' who I have always considered the greatest of all time has passed away. He knew how to use both feet equally, with the same sensitivity and with the same power. If there hadn't been football, he would certainly have invented it." Thus begins the memory of Gianni Rivera, who explains on Facebook who O Rei was for him, his rival, even if only for 6 minutes, in the Mexico 1970 world final and, seven years earlier (and for the entire match), in the first leg of the Intercontinental Cup that Milan won at San Siro 4-2 over Santos, with two goals from O Rei. “We had an excellent relationship and I am truly sorry for his passing – continues Rivera, winner of the Ballon d'Or in 1969 -. It seems useless to me to try to make a ranking between who was the best between him and the other great players of all time. Altafini once told me that he was also good in goal! One day before starting training with Santos, his team, he made an agreement with the coach to pose as a new goalkeeper who wanted to be hired. No one noticed it was him and he parried all the shots his teammates made him from the edge of the penalty area!!! This is enough to understand who did it.

The last goodbye

Vila Belmiro, the stadium of "his" Santos, will host the funeral home starting at 10 local time on Monday. According to "O Globo", the public will be given the opportunity to say goodbye to Pele until 10 on Tuesday. Then the body of the former Brazilian champion will leave the facility for a funeral procession through the streets of the city of Santos, also passing in front of the house of his mother, Dona Celeste, until it reaches the Ecumenical Memorial Necropole, a vertical cemetery with a view right on Villa Belmiro . It will be there that Pele will rest forever, with the funeral reserved for family members only.

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