Pelé, international soccer hero, mourned by thousands in Brazil ahead of Tuesday burial

Soccer star Pelé is being celebrated one last time in his hometown of Santos, Brazil.
Fans gathered around the three-time World Cup winner Monday during a ceremony attended by thousands at Vila Belmiro Stadium outside Sao Paulo. The 82-year-old athlete’s coffin was placed on the field in the middle of the 16,000 seat stadium, where admirers once watched him grow into one of the world’s most celebrated athletes.
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A Catholic mass will take place there Tuesday before Pelé — who played for the New York Cosmos from 1975 to 1977 — is buried in a nearby cemetery.
The son of Brazilian football legend Pele, Edinho, attends his father’s wake at the Urbano Caldeira stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil on January 2, 2023. (MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Pelé, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, lost his battle with colon cancer Thursday. Soccer greats including Neymar and Ronaldo honored him Monday with publicly displayed bouquets. The song “I Am Pelé,” recorded by Pelé, played through stadium loudspeakers. Among his achievements off the field, which included the 1981 film “Victory” co-starring Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine, was his self-titled 1977 album with Brazilian composer Sérgio Mendes.
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[ Funeral held for soccer legend Pelé ]
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said “with a lot of emotion, sadness, but also with a smile” that every country should name a stadium in honor of Pelé.
Mourners queue outside Vila Belmiro stadium waiting to pay their respects to Brazilian football legend Pelé during his funeral on Jan. 2, 2023, in Santos, Brazil. (Wagner Meier/Getty Images)
Brazil’s new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is expected to attend Tuesday’s burial, which will follow Pelé’s casket’s procession through the streets of Santos.
In addition to leading Brazil to World Cup glory in 1958, 1962 and 1970, Pelé scored a dozen goals during World Cup play before retiring from international competition in 1971. He netted a total of 77 goal in 92 international matches — a scoring record finally equaled by Fellow Brazilian Neymar in last month’s World Cup in Qatar.
FILE – Brazil’s Pelé is hoisted on the shoulders of his teammates after Brazil won the World Cup final against Italy, 4-1, in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, June 21, 1970. (AP)
Pelé spent the past month hospitalized before multiple organs failed him, according to the Sao Paulo medical center where he died last week. He’d been treated several times since his cancer was diagnosed in 2021.
He once told the Daily News “You cannot make another Michael Jordan, just like you cannot make another Pelé.”
With News Wire Services