04:04Brazil: 'Pele, our eternal king!' - Tens of thousands queue into the night at Santos stadium to say goodbye to football icon
Tens of thousands of people remained in line to pay their respects to the late football legend Pele on Monday evening, as mourners slowly filed past his coffin in the centre of the pitch at Urbano Caldeira stadium in Santos.
"If I didn't come here, I would die! It wouldn't work out, I'd be thinking 'why didn't I go? Why didn't I go'," explained 72-year-old fan, Maria Regina Peixoto. ""Pele is my life, my joy. When he played, oh my God..."
Footage shows drone footage of the event, with the line reportedly stretching for miles, ahead of the star’s burial ceremony on Tuesday. 50,000 fans- around 10 percent of the whole town - were reported to have attended, with some seen singing "1000 goals, only Pele, our eternal king".
"I saw his arrival [at Santos]. … I watched the whole rise of his career. We played together in a playful way on the beach and so on," said 81-year-old Carlos 'Gigi' Prieto, admitting that Pele was simply too good for their amateur matches.
"15 minutes into the game, the opposing team … interrupted the game," he continued.
"The president came in and said: 'No, with him on the line there is no more match’. So he was forced to move Pele back to fullback. He kept going back until he ended up in goal. He couldn't play in any other position but goalkeeper."
The stadium, home to Santos FC, is where the Brazilian star played for the majority of his domestic career. His 1,279 goals remains a Guinness World Record and he is the only footballer to win three World Cups; 1958, 1962 and 1970.
Pele, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, died on December 29 at the age of 82, following a battle with colon cancer. A private family burial will take place on Tuesday at the Memorial Necropole Ecumenica.
04:04Tens of thousands of people remained in line to pay their respects to the late football legend Pele on Monday evening, as mourners slowly filed past his coffin in the centre of the pitch at Urbano Caldeira stadium in Santos.
"If I didn't come here, I would die! It wouldn't work out, I'd be thinking 'why didn't I go? Why didn't I go'," explained 72-year-old fan, Maria Regina Peixoto. ""Pele is my life, my joy. When he played, oh my God..."
Footage shows drone footage of the event, with the line reportedly stretching for miles, ahead of the star’s burial ceremony on Tuesday. 50,000 fans- around 10 percent of the whole town - were reported to have attended, with some seen singing "1000 goals, only Pele, our eternal king".
"I saw his arrival [at Santos]. … I watched the whole rise of his career. We played together in a playful way on the beach and so on," said 81-year-old Carlos 'Gigi' Prieto, admitting that Pele was simply too good for their amateur matches.
"15 minutes into the game, the opposing team … interrupted the game," he continued.
"The president came in and said: 'No, with him on the line there is no more match’. So he was forced to move Pele back to fullback. He kept going back until he ended up in goal. He couldn't play in any other position but goalkeeper."
The stadium, home to Santos FC, is where the Brazilian star played for the majority of his domestic career. His 1,279 goals remains a Guinness World Record and he is the only footballer to win three World Cups; 1958, 1962 and 1970.
Pele, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, died on December 29 at the age of 82, following a battle with colon cancer. A private family burial will take place on Tuesday at the Memorial Necropole Ecumenica.