The football world pays tribute to Pele – Liberation

What to say and when The greatest player in his sport bows ? Brazilian club Santos, where Pele played the biggest, in every sense of the word, part of his career, had only one word, “everlasting”, Such as Brazilian check. São Paulo State FC decorated its letter with an image of a crown on a black background, in a simple and unmistakable tribute to the club. who endlessly lit up with his fantasies The Brazilian club, stretching goals like pearls and forging its legend. Here it is: King Pele, 82, died Thursday night from cancer.

Kylian Mbappe, who was called Pele at the 2018 World Cup because he is the power of the greatest, reacted very quickly. its networks : “The king of football has left us, but his legacy will never be forgotten.” His Paris Saint-Germain teammate Neymar, the current greatest Brazilian player, left Pele in the hierarchy of top scorers, wrote to him on Monday. instagram : “Before Pele, 10 was just a number. I read that sentence somewhere, at some point in my life. But this beautiful sentence is incomplete. Before Pele I used to say football was just a sport. Pele changed everything. Turn soccer into art, into entertainment. He gave a voice to the poor, the blacks, and above all: he gave a vision for Brazil.

Another soccer player who could be close to the legendary Brazilian in the soccer pantheon, Cristiano Ronaldo admits that “A simple goodbye to Eternal King Pele will never be enough to express your pain.” current world football. The Portuguese describe rather little of their relationship to honor him: “The love you always showed me was reciprocated in every moment we shared even from a distance. It will never be forgotten and its memory will live on forever in every football fan.”

“Rest in peace”, He sincerely wished him his successor, the prince Lionel Messi. Another legend of the Seleção attack, Romario Celebrate who “He made the world bow before his talent, and took Brazilian football to the altar of the gods.”

Clubs, beyond the continents, which prove the global reach of football’s first mega-star, have also multiplied the acclaim. the Paris Saint-Germain (“King of Football Forever”), Arsenal (“As a club, we had the honor of hosting Pele in 1981 at Highbury. A memory we will always cherish”) or F.C.B (“With him football became bigger”) He went with them.

As for FIFA, who named Pele the “Player of the 20th Century”, he celebrated “Forever with us”. On the political side, Emmanuel Macron He saluted his memory with simple “The Game. The King. Immortality.” in BrazilBarely three days before his inauguration as president, Lula recalls The privilege that young Brazilians did not have: [avoir] Watch Pele play, live”. before concluding: “Few Brazilians have carried the name of our country as much as it does.”

On their networks, the player’s family chooses to send a message “of love” To celebrate the passing of the king: “Throughout his journey, Edson charmed everyone with his genius for sports, stopping war, doing social work around the world, and spreading what he believed to be the cure to all our problems: love.”

Update : 10:11 p.m., with reactions from FIFA and Lula added.