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Thousands of people gathered to say goodbye to football great Pele at his funeral procession in Brazil on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Pele’s coffin, adorned with Brazilian and Santos FC flags, passed through the streets of Santos to reach the cemetery where he was to be buried.<\/p>\n
The three-time World Cup champion, who died Thursday at the age of 82, will be buried Tuesday after a small funeral attended by his family.<\/p>\n
The procession brought thousands of visitors after a 24-hour vigil at the Vila Belmiro stadium, home of Santos FC.<\/p>\n
“Pele is the most important Brazilian of all time,” said Caio Zarque, who attended the public viewing. “He made the sport important for Brazil and Brazil important for the world.”<\/p>\n
Pele died of organ failure after a battle with colon cancer. He scored his 77 goals in 92 career international matches and led Brazil to World Cup titles in 1958, 1962 and 1970.<\/p>\n
He played for Santos FC from 1956 to 1974, scoring 618 goals for the club, before playing for the New York Cosmos from 1975 to 1977.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t get to see him play, but loving Pele is a tradition passed down from father to son at Santos,” said Claudio Carranza, 32, who also attended the stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned his history, saw his goals and realized how important Santos FC is because he is important. I know there are kids out there who are stoked, but that’s because they’ve never seen Pele in action, and if they did, they’d feel this gratitude I feel right now.<\/p>\n
For news wire services<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n