Pele makes final journey

SANTOS, January 3

Pele’s coffin arrived at his final resting place today as millions of fans in Brazil and around the world mourned the sports legend. Newly inaugurated President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva paid his respects at Vila Belmiro, the stadium where Pele played for most of his career.

Pele was being buried in the city where he grew up, became famous, and helped make into a global capital of his sport. Mass was held at the Vila Belmiro stadium before the casket was driven through the streets of Santos.

In the 1960s and 70s, Pele was perhaps the world’s most famous athlete. He met presidents and queens, and in Nigeria a civil war was put on hold to watch him play. Many Brazilians credit him 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 goals, waving in the city’s summer winds. A section of the stands was filling 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 a song named “Eu sou Pele” (“I am Pele”) that was recorded by the Brazilian himself. The crowd was mostly local, although some came from far away. 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. — AP