‘Goodbye to the King’ – how papers across the world reacted to Pele’s death
Sunny Badwal, PA
The death of football great Pele on Thursday provoked grief from around the globe as the world’s papers rushed to hand tributes to the three-times World Cup winner.
A number of Irish newspapers led with iconic photographs of the Brazilian great, including The Irish Times.
Here are a selection of other papers around the world reacting to the news.
ADEUS AO REI | Em homenagem a Pelé, O GLOBO terá edição inédita com quatro capas que ilustram grandes momentos do Rei.
Faça download das Primeiras Páginas nas versões Copas de 1958, 1962, 1970 e 1.000 gols: https://t.co/JVQ4FQBUkn pic.twitter.com/3WnW9WhV9V— Jornal O Globo (@JornalOGlobo) December 29, 2022
Brazilian newspaper O Globo printed four editions to mark famous Pele moments from each of his World Cup wins with Brazil in 1958, 1962, 1970 as well as remembering his 1,000 goals achievement.
On each front cover read the simple words “Pele Eterno” which translate to English as “Pele Eternal”.
AS frontpage#Pele pic.twitter.com/gWJqpoyrRa
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) December 30, 2022
Spanish newspaper AS opted to share a front page using a picture of Pele’s feet on a plain background. Below the photo read “O Rei” in large letters, which was the nickname given to Pele as “The King” in Portuguese, which many referred to during his time playing the game.
La une du journal L'Équipe du vendredi 30 décembre en l'hommage de Pelé pic.twitter.com/FFkVKksVJ6
— L'ÉQUIPE (@lequipe) December 29, 2022
French daily newspaper L’Equipe produced a front page of Pele smiling in his traditional Selecao yellow strip. Accompanying the photo of Pele are the words ‘Il etaut un roi’, meaning ‘He was a king’ in French and the paper paid tribute to the footballing legend by devoting 22 pages inside the edition to Pele.
A la une de @Libe ce vendredi :
⚫ Pelé, Seleciao #Peléhttps://t.co/nj2k4mQp7h pic.twitter.com/7CVw2Pl9JR— Libération (@libe) December 29, 2022
Another French newspaper Liberation went with 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 looking on from the stands in the background.
Next to him read the words ‘Pele Seleciao – le footballer mythique de l’equipe de brasil, trois fois champion du monde, es morte jeudi 82 anos’, translating to ‘the mythical footballer of the Brazil team, three times world champion, died Thursday 82 years’.
La nostra prima pagina di venerdì 30 dicembre #CorrieredelloSport #Pele pic.twitter.com/tHPTu5VAN2
— Corriere dello Sport (@CorSport) December 30, 2022
Italian newspaper Corriere Dello Sport chose a front page of Pele celebrating with fans and team-mates as Brazil were crowned 4-1 winners of the 1970 World Cup over home nation Italy.
‘Aveva 82 anni, era malato da tempo tre titoli mondiali con il brasil. Una fantastica carriera da 1.281 gol nel ’70 la magia in finale con l’italia’ read the words on the front page, describing the ‘magic’ he and the Brazil side put on show to win the Jules Rimet trophy.
La prima pagina di #Marca
Brividi 💔#Tuttosport #Pele #pele #Brazil #Brasile pic.twitter.com/m7o07CPF0c— Tuttosport (@tuttosport) December 30, 2022
Spanish paper Marca wrote ‘Pele’ in big letters spread across the page accompanied with a small photo of him celebrating with teammate Jairzinho after he supplied a pass to Carlos Alberto for Brazil’s fourth goal in the 1970 World Cup final.
Esta é a #CapaDoDia do Estadão desta sexta-feira, 30 de dezembro. Leia mais em https://t.co/eot9WAJruZ pic.twitter.com/chS1hYLmoX
— Estadão 🗞️ (@Estadao) December 30, 2022
Sao Paulo based Estadao stripped the colour from the front of their paper, showing Pele in the silhouette of his number 10 jersey while playing for Santos to remember his club career.
É de arrepiar. Absolutamente impressionante.
Pelé tomando mais de metade das capas do Libération (França), The Guardian (Inglaterra), Diário de Notícias (Portugal), La Razón (México). Não são jornais de esportes. Se algum jovem duvidava da lenda, a resposta está abaixo. pic.twitter.com/oPJAKs69sy— Daniel Rittner (@rittner_daniel) December 30, 2022
Mexican newspaper La Razon paid tribute by writing ‘Adios Al rey del futbol’, reading ‘goodbye to the king of football’.
