People of Brazil began to pay their final respects on Monday to football legend Pele with a wake at the stadium where he first took the world's breath away with his dazzling skill, reports AFP.
Throughout the day, thousands of fans and football dignitaries slowly filed through the Vila Belmiro, home to Pele's longtime club, Santos.
More continued to join the queue as night fell, waiting their turn to walk past the body of "O Rei" (The King), lying at the center of the field.
Pele's coffin was draped in the flags of Santos and Brazil and surrounded by white flowers, including bouquets from the likes of Real Madrid or current Brazil star Neymar, whose father was in attendance.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife also sent a wreath, local media reported.
Lula's office announced earlier that he would attend the wake on Tuesday morning, less than 48 hours after taking office, to "pay his respects and tribute," before a funeral procession and interment later in the day.
Pele, a three-time World Cup winner widely considered the greatest footballer of all time, died Thursday at age 82 after a battle with cancer.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who attended the wake with the heads of the South American and Brazilian football confederations, said the sport's governing body would ask all member countries to name a stadium in Pele's honor.
"Pele is eternal. He's a global icon of football," he told journalists in Santos, a southeastern port city 75 kilometers (45 miles) from Sao Paulo.
Carlos Mota and his 12-year-old son Bernardo had traveled more than 500 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro to pay tribute to their hero.
"My whole childhood was influenced by what Pele did for Brazil, by his World Cup wins. He was a national idol," Mota, 59, told AFP.
"I've always told my son, there are three indisputable facts: the ball is round, the grass is green and Pele is the greatest of all time."
Bernardo clearly took the lesson to heart.
"I never saw Pele play, but I've seen the videos. He's the greatest player who ever walked the Earth," he said.
Seventy-five-year-old retiree Vera Lucia, who had made the trip from Sao Paulo, was also braving the scorching sun to stand in line, which stretched to two kilometers in the early afternoon.
"I'm just devastated," she said. "We always loved watching his matches as a family."
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
