Thousands of mourners, including high school students and supreme court justices, began filing past the body of Pele on Monday on the century-old field where he made his hometown team one of Brazil’s best.
The soccer great died on Thursday after a battle with cancer. He was the only player ever to win three World Cups, and he was 82.
Pele’s coffin, draped in the flags of Brazil and the Santos FC football club, was placed on the midfield area of Vila Belmiro, the stadium outside Sao Paulo that was his home for most of his career. A Catholic Mass will be celebrated there Tuesday morning before his burial at a nearby cemetery. Brazil’s newly inaugurated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will come to Vila Belmiro shortly before Pele’s coffin is removed from the stadium.
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The storied 16,000-seat stadium was surrounded by mourners, and covered with Pele-themed decorations. Fans coming out of the stadium said they’d waited three hours in line, standing under a blazing sun.
Read more: AP
