In addition to Santos, the only Brazilian club defended by Pelé, who died on Thursday (29), other clubs in the country left their tributes to the King.
Botafogo, Santos de Pelé’s biggest rival during the early 60s, said that the former player enchanted the world and thanked him.
Another carioca to honor the three-time world champion was Flamengo, defeated by the team from Santos in the decision of the 1963 Brazilian championship, in which Pelé was top scorer. The red-black declared that it wasn’t just on the field that Pelé made history.
“In even more cruel times for people of color, Edson, a dark, black man, was crowned, becoming much more than an icon within the four lines, but also a sigh of hope for countless young black people in our country”, posted the club on his Twitter account.
One of Santos’ great state rivals, Corinthians, the club in which Pelé scored no less than 49 goals, also mourned the death of the star. The people of São Paulo said that “today football lost its king and that rivalry does not exist in this moment of mourning for the loss of the one who changed the sport that we all love.”
In another post, Corinthians showed the tribute paid to Pelé in its arena in Itaquera, in the east zone of São Paulo.
Brazilian champion against Santos de Pelé in 1959 and runner-up on two occasions, 1961 and 1963, Bahia also left a note lamenting the loss of one of the biggest names in world sport. “With extreme regret, we deeply regret the last match of the King of Football,” said the club.
Another club with history with the King, Vasco da Gama, which had the honor of conceding the thousandth goal of the star’s career, in addition to having lost the Brazilian final in 1965 to Santos, declared that football had lost “his Majesty” .
In another post, Cruzmaltino shared the video of Pelé’s thousandth goal, scored on November 19, 1969, with the caption “It was an honor, King!”.
In 1966, after five consecutive victories, the alvinegro Praiano was defeated in a Brazilian championship decision. The executioner was Cruzeiro, which had stars like Tostão and Dirceu Lopes.
Scoring a goal in the second game of the finals, Pelé even tried to extend the first national title of the fox, nickname of the team from Minas Gerais, but the defeat suffered by 6-2 in the first meeting between the teams had already decided the fate of Santos.
With a photo of that decision, the sky club paid its salute to the king. “There are no words that define what you represent, Pelé. After you, we became the country of football. The world stopped to watch you play. Football without you will not be the same”, posted Cruzeiro on its social networks.
After the defeat by the miners, the team led by Pelé would reconquer the country in 1968.
Internacional de Porto Alegre, won by the team from Santos in the final quadrangular of that championship, also made a post in honor of the King.
Along with a video, the club declared that “without Pelé, Brazil would be different. His genius transformed the meaning of impossible. After him, there was nothing else that our people would not dare to dream about”.
1968 was also the year of the 11th São Paulo title for the team from the coast, and it fell to Palmeiras to accompany Pelé and company parading with the cup.
In the middle of Parque Antártica, historic Alviverde stadium, Santos beat the home team 3-1 and won the title.
Palmeirenses also mourned the death of the national idol and announced official mourning for seven days.
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