Pelé funeral: ‘The whole city has stopped. The whole world stopped’

Emotional crowds bid Brazil soccer legend Pelé a final farewell on Tuesday, lining the streets of Santos to watch his coffin taken to its final resting place from the city's stadium

Wed, 04 Jan, 2023 - 06:30

Eduardo Simões

Emotional crowds bid Brazil soccer legend Pelé a final farewell on Tuesday, lining the streets of Santos to watch his coffin taken to its final resting place from the city's stadium where 230,000 mourners had filed past his open casket.

Young and old embraced as the funeral procession wound its way through the coastal city's streets for hours, with some fans in tears and others cheering and drumming for a national hero who rose from barefoot poverty to become one of the greatest and best-known athletes in modern history.