Pelé is dead, but Pelé is “immortal” : the media around the world salutes the legendary Brazilian who died on Thursday, December 29 at the age of 82, the only winner of three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970) and who football its hours of glory and letters of nobility. The images of the ‘king’ and the comments appear endlessly on television screens around the world, flooding social networks and eating up the front pages of newspaper websites before they are published.

“Mourning” for the “immortal king of football,” reads the headline in the Brazilian daily Oh Globo on his site, with images of the player in the national jersey, especially the iconic one, where he is all smiles and raising his right arm, carried by his teammate Jairzinho, seen from behind wearing his number 7, in the 1970 World Cup final.

“Pelé is dead, football loses its king,” headline O Estado de S. Pauloa player who according to Folha de Sao Paulo“showed the power of sport and pushed the boundaries of stardom”. On the website of this Paulist newspaper, Juca Kfouri praises the “best player in history” and quotes the writer Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902-1987): “It is not difficult to score a thousand goals like Pelé: what is difficult is to score one goal like Pelé. » This journalist, an authority in Brazil, concludes his beautiful obituary as follows: “No, it is not true that Pele is dead. The one who died is Edson” – the first name of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé.

In Argentina, the country of Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, who also qualifies for the unofficial title of best player of all time, Clarin sees in Pele “the first great football star”, a “great among the greats”. “The ball is crying: Pelé is dead,” headline Ole. And the Argentinian sports daily shows itself to be a good player: “Apart from the rivalry that exists between Argentina and Brazil, no one can doubt that Pelé was one of the greatest footballers in history, for many the best after Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. What is certain is that he has marked an era since his teenage debut, both with Santos and the Brazilian national team. »

Still in Latin America, the Mexican press favors the image of “Rei” celebrating his third world title in 1970, at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico, carried by his teammates, shirtless and wearing a sombrero. “Football is in mourning,” headline El Universal. In Ecuador, The universe of Guayaquil said “farewell to Pelé, the “supernatural footballer””.

The ‘global face’ of football

In the United States, a country much less focused on the king of sports, New York Times evokes the disappearance of “global face of football”That “helped popularize the sport in the United States”during his time at Cosmos New York (1975-1977). “Brazil and the world in mourning: there was only one Pelé”recognizes the WashingtonPoston whose website sports journalist Liz Clarke writes: “He was nicknamed the King of Football, but it is Pelé’s other nickname – the ‘Pérola Negra’ or ‘Black Pearl’ – that best evokes the rare intelligence he contained in his diminutive size. »

It is also this extraordinary talent that Vincent Duluc magnifies The team (twenty-two special Pelé pages): “Behind the sadness lies the happiness of having seen him play, of seeing him dance, even on old statues, and of seeing him give a different meaning to the most universal game in the world. » The editor of the French sports daily ends his column with a sigh “saudade” thinking about the Brazilian number 10 and the 1970 World Cup: ‘He was the tallest and she was the prettiest. »

The biggest? This is also the opinion of World about the “absolute monarch of football”. “Oh Rei. The king, very simple. With all its attributes. His crown, never contested, not even by Cruyff, Platini, Maradona, Zidane, Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo”says Bruno Lessprit.

Edition, always paying attention to the “front page” when personalities die, offers a surprising photo: we see Pelé on a field, in shorts and without a shirt, but with a long coat on his shoulders, and looking back (photo taken in Liverpool in 1966 after a Brazil-Portugal). The title “ Seleciao » makes a pun (“Seleçao” And “bye”) and Paul Quinio’s editorial entitled “Forever the first” likes to imagine Pelé a “band of fantastic four” with Diego Maradona, Johan Cruijff and George Best: “They are so different, they probably wouldn’t get along here, in a dressing room, but the joy, the fire, the tactics, the alcohol blend where they are now in an otherworldly, almost childlike harmony. »

The biggest?

So, the biggest? ‘Pelé was better than Messi, Maradona and Ronaldo combined’says Alfred Draxler, sports editor of the German tabloid Image. Die Zeitstill in Germany, Pelé remembers “started barefoot in the streets of Bauru and became footballer of the century”.

“I thought Messi was the best of all time, but now I realize it’s Pele”assures John Carlin of the British The times. Richard Williams, Guardianretains ” joy “ that came from Pele: “The world’s first football superstar put a smile on everyone’s faces and his tricks were never intended to humiliate his opponents. » “Pelé will always be associated with the ‘beautiful game’ – and no one has played it more beautifully”says Phil McNulty of the BBC in the fall of his obituary.

“Pelé, the “black pearl” who enchanted the world, is no more,” headline The times of India. “Absolute legend” abounds Today Morocco. In Kenya the Daily Nation greet her “first world football player”whose death the “end of an era”.

Similar tone in Spain, true El Pais known “Pelé, world football in four letters”. La Vanguardia called up “the last great legend of world football”And Marca emphasizes on its site the portrait of the young Pelé with a crown on his head, the mention “1940-2022” and a black border, the color of mourning. The sports daily also links the video “which shows that all the great actions of Cruijff, Zidane, Messi… Pelé had already invented them”.

El Mundo remembers “the two most beautiful goals in history”it’s unfortunate that we “I can’t see them” for lack of the slightest video recording: a goal in 1959, after four shots from the sombrero, and another in 1961, when Pelé received the ball in front of his area, eliminated seven opponents and scored his goal.

“The football world loses its ‘Rei’”regrets La Stampa, in Italy. On the website of the Turin newspaper, Matteo Giusti begins his article with a quote attributed to the Brazilian writer Jorge Amado: “If football wasn’t called that, it should have been called Pelé. »