by The death of football great Pele on Thursday caused grief across the world as newspapers around the world rushed to pay tributes to the three-time World Cup winner.
Here’s how some newspapers reacted:
The Brazilian newspaper O Globo printed four editions celebrating Pelé’s famous moments from each of his World Cup victories with Brazil in 1958, 1962, 1970, as well as recalling his 1,000 goals.
On each cover read the simple words “Pele Eterno” which translates into English as “Pele Eternal”.
Spanish newspaper AS has decided to share a front page with an image of Pele’s feet against a plain background. Underneath the photo read in large letters “O Rei,” which was the nickname given to Pele as “The King” in Portuguese, which many referred to during his playing stint.
French newspaper L’Equipe published a front page of Pelé smiling in his traditional yellow Selecao stripe. Accompanying Pelé’s photo are the words ‘Il etaut un roi’, which means ‘He Was a King’ in French and the newspaper paid tribute to the football legend by dedicating 22 pages within the edition to Pelé.
Another French newspaper Liberation published a black and white photo of Pele topless but wrapped in a coat during the 1966 World Cup, looking over his shoulder with thousands of fans watching from the stands in the background.
Next to him are the words “Pele Seleciao – le footballer mythique de l’equipe de brasil, trois fois champion du monde, es morte jeudi 82 anos”, which translates into “the legendary footballer of the Brazilian team, three times champion of the world, died Thursday aged 82′.
Italian newspaper Corriere Dello Sport picked a front page of Pele celebrating with fans and teammates as Brazil were crowned 4-1 winners of the 1970 World Cup against Italy.
‘He was 82 years old, he had been ill for some time three world titles with Brazil. A fantastic career of 1,281 goals in ’70 the magic in the final with Italy’ read the words on the front page, describing the ‘magic’ that he and Brazil showed to win the Jules Rimet trophy.
Spanish newspaper Marca has “Pelé” written in large letters scattered across the page accompanied by a small photo of him celebrating with teammate Jairzinho after providing a pass for Carlos Alberto for Brazil’s fourth goal in the World Cup final 1970.
São Paulo-based Estadao have stripped the color of the front of the newspaper, showing Pelé with the silhouette of his number 10 shirt playing for Santos as a reminder of his career at the club.
Mexican newspaper La Razon paid tribute by writing “Adios Al rey del futbol”, reading “goodbye to the king of soccer”.
