A year after his death, the world continues to pay tribute to Pele

In these past 12 months, tributes to the three-time world champion have been, on various platforms, all over the world.

The first anniversary of Pelé's death is another opportunity to honor the King of Football. Not that these tributes have ceased at any point since the body of the legendary player, at the age of 82, ceased to move on December 29th, 2022, due to complications arising from colon cancer.

In these past 12 months, tributes to the three-time world champion have been constant, on various platforms, all over the world. There have been tributes in Três Corações, his birthplace, Bauru, the land of his first kicks, and Santos, his most frequent stage.

There have also been tributes in Paris, where FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) held its annual awards ceremony in February. As expected, a large part of the ceremony was dedicated to the man who enchanted the world with his talent. Former player Ronaldo tried to summarize what Edson Arantes do Nascimento represented for the sport.

"He was a player far ahead of his time, an athlete who served as an inspiration for me and the entire world of football. In the 1950s, he was already modern, he could kick with both legs, jump higher than others, score goals with bicycle kicks and headers. I also remember him as a dear friend. When I had my first knee injury in 2000, he visited me at my home, bringing much love and care in one of the most difficult moments of my life," said Ronaldo.

"Pelé will also be remembered for his impact on society. When he played, the world was even more racist than it is today. He, a black athlete, became the king of the most popular sport on the planet. He showed that black people can be the best, the most successful, and can overcome racism. This fight is not over yet, but I ask everyone to be inspired by the fight of King Pelé," he added.

While the lack of greater engagement in this fight is a frequent criticism of Edson, Pelé's impact is truly undeniable. On people of all ages, from various backgrounds. And even in fiction.

Writer Nelson Rodrigues, the first to call the player a king, included in his chronicles the "high society lady with the nostrils of a corpse", a caricatured character who knew nothing about football and would appear at the stadium asking who the ball was. But even she bowed before the resounding majesty. "What mesmerized her was Pelé as a man, a myth, and a hero."

Therefore, it is not surprising that the tributes have been constant throughout this year. The Brazilian Championship had a minute of silence in each of its 380 matches and was named Brasileirão Rei. In a cruel irony, after years of flirting with the second division, Santos was finally relegated.

The script makes it difficult not to embrace the cheesy observation that the club, six-time national champion with Pelé, waited for his death to fulfill an inevitable destiny. Either way, the new president of Santos warned that in the Serie B, no one will wear the number 10 jersey that once belonged to the greatest.

It will be another tribute in an endless list that cannot fit into one text. There were tributes to the player Pelé, the man Edson, and the little Dico, as the grandmother Ambrosina used to call the boy from Três Corações.

In the recently released "Dico: The Boy Who Lived in Pelé's Heart," Celso de Campos Jr. tells with the illustrations by Lhaiza Morena how the boy shaped the man and forged the legend. If Pelé liked to refer to Edson in the third person, there was a second person between them, Dico.

"When a child grows up, do they disappear? Not at all," asks and answers the children's book. "When someone has a child in their heart, they gain infinite powers. Want to see?", Campos Jr. continues before playfully reconstructing the trajectory of the King of Football.

Três Corações, three people in one. Three words, or rather one: the famous 'love, love, love,' said in his retirement in the United States.

"These words came from Pelé's heart," the book 'Dico' recounts. "And we know who lived there, don't we?"