in the middle of the pitch for fans and dignitaries to pay their respects ahead of a private family burial on tuesday. the funeral procession drove through santos before dawn, with large crowds lining the roadsides and setting off fireworks. president lula of brazil is expected to attend the wake, his first engagement since he regained the presidency of brazil on sunday. pele died last thursday aged 82. joining me now is camilla mota from bbc brasil who s in sao paulo for us. a chance for brazilians to say their farewells to the great legendary pele, some of them obviously too young to have ever seen him play, but still such a superstar in that country. but still such a superstar in that count . ~ .. , but still such a superstar in that count .~ , country. wright, exactly. many brazilians didn t country. wright, exactly. many brazilians didn t see, country. wright, exactly. many brazilians didn t see, youngerl brazilians didn t see, younger generations didn t see pele play. pele
pele, football was just a sport. he gave visibility to brazil . he is gone but his magic remains. pele is forever. cristiano ronaldo, for his part, said a mere goodbye to pele will never be enough to express the pain that engulfs the entire football world. tributes that we saw paid on the pitch in france on thursday night just an hour after the news emerged of pele s passing ahead of marseille s game against two loose. use expect that these will be scenes we will see echoed around the premier league and spain over the coming days as well. the mourning period goes on. so many people have their own memories of pele. i want to just bring up this picture that i grew up with. on the wall at home in my
pele you can t help but think of mary donna. why are they compared? they are compared because they are two of the greatest football players of all time. they were both south american. of course there was the age-old rivalry of brazil and argentina. i think that maradona was happy to promote and pursue his status with pele. i think that pele tried to distance himself from it and rise above it. they were very different characters. very different people, but they both achieved wonderful things in soccer. i think pele will always be remembered because of his modesty, his humility, his great sportsmanship. i had the privilege of being his ghostwriter at various world cup s.
house, they say that where pele went, many others followed. the nasl in the states is another of those places. and this man was signed by new york cosmos to replace pele after his retirement. he sold his house in manchester to my mom and dad, who are the couple in the middle there. they paid a trip to new york to visit dennis and joan and pele and remember that very fondly. that was the picture that i grew up with on the wall at home. what an amazing memento! lovely! thank you for sharing that! amanda davis reporting for you. lovely tribute. thank you. the english premier league tweeted that pele transcended our sport and inspired millions. i want to bring in now our sports journalist. a towering figure, peerless almost. how did he transform the sport?
it makes you look great and it helps you to express your individuality. vivienne westwood was 81 years old. now returning to one of our top stories, the u.s. space agency, nasa, is paying tribute to paley, posting an image of a spiral galaxy in the constellation which includes the colors of the brazilian flag, green, yellow and blue. the post included the message to mark the passage of the legendary pele, the master of the beautiful game. and that wraps up this edition of cnn newsroom. i hope to see you tomorrow .