PARIS (AFP) — His face appeared on televisions around the world and dominated the homepages of news outlets everywhere as global media bowed to the late, great Pele, the undisputed “King” of football. A man takes a picture of a wall depicting an image of late football stars Diego Maradona of Argentina and Pele of Brazil embracing each other, in Buenos Aires on December 29, 2022, just hours after the passing of Pele. To the Brazilian daily O Globo, whose front page was packed with stories about the sporting legend, Pele may have died, but he remained the “immortal king of football”. In the far less football-mad United States, the New York Times called Pele the “global face of soccer” who “helped popularise the sport” stateside with his 1975-1977 stint with the New York Cosmos. And in Italy’s La Stampa, Matteo Giusti began his article with a quote attributed to the Brazilian writer Jorge Amado: “If football hadn’t been called that, it should have been called Pele.”

Source: Manila Times December 31, 2022 01:02 UTC