Italian football figures have been paying tribute to Pelé after the Brazil legend’s death at the age of 82, including Jose Mourinho and Andrea Pirlo, while clubs remember when they crossed paths with O Rei.
The only player to win three different World Cup trophies and a man who practically invented many of the moves we still see today on the field, Edson Arantes do Nascimento was a hero to anyone who grew up watching his exploits.
“Pelé was, for all the lads of my generation, football,” wrote Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis on social media.
“You could be his fan or not, but Pelé was a great positive symbol of his era. His death saddens us all. Goodbye great champion.”
Inevitably, Napoli paid tribute to the two true candidates for the title of GOAT, as Diego Armando Maradona passed away in November 2020.
At that time, Pelé had said: “I hope we will one day get to play football together in Heaven.”
He had some classic clashes with Italy at the World Cup, but at club level his Santos team also crossed paths with several Italian teams.
They faced Milan in the 1963 Intercontinental Cup Final and in 2016 Pelé confessed he had received an offer to join the Rossoneri, but wanted to stay closer to home.
Santos remembered Pelé on social media with just one word ‘Eternal’ and the image of a King’s crown.