Lula pays respects to Pele,150,000 people come to the stadium wake

• More than 150,000 people pour past Pele’s open casket at Vila Belmiro stadium.
• 24-hour memorial service for Brazil legend began on Monday.
• Pele died last week aged 82 following a year-long battle with colon cancer.

More than 150,000 people, including President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, paid their tribute to Brazilian football star Pele in Santos, flowing past the late legend’s open casket at the Vila Belmiro stadium.

A 24-hour memorial service for Pele, who died last week at the age of 82 following a year-long battle with colon cancer, began on Monday, as Brazil prepared to lay its football legend to rest on Tuesday.

“Pele represents a lot for us Brazilian people,” Thiago Mostazo, a football fan, told Al Jazeera outside the stadium. “It’s a sad moment, but it’s also a moment to honour his life and his career as the greatest football player ever.”

Geovana Sarmento, 17, stood in a three-hour line to see Pele’s body at the stadium where he spent most of his career. She arrived with her father, who was dressed in a Brazil shirt with Pele’s name on it.

“I am not a Santos fan, neither is my father. But this guy invented Brazil’s national team. He made Santos stronger, he made it big, how could you not respect him? He is one of the greatest people ever, we needed to honour him,” she told the Associated Press news agency.

Pele will be buried in Santos, where he grew up, rose to fame, and helped transform the city into a global football hub. He is the only player in history to have won three World Cups.

Thousands of mourners, including high school students and Supreme Court judges, poured past Pele’s remains on the century-old pitch where he helped his hometown team become one of Brazil’s greatest. Pele’s coffin was placed in the midfield area of Vila Belmiro, covered with Brazilian and Santos Football Club flags.

“Long live the king,” a giant banner read inside the stadium. Dubbed the “king of soccer“, Pele played for Santos from 1956 to 1974, scoring more than 1,000 goals.

Lifelong Santos fan Katia Cruz, 58, who lives a block from the stadium, said she had stood in line for four hours to get into the Vila Belmiro at 1:30am (04:30 GMT), attending the wake alone since her husband was “inconsolable”.

She remembered Pele as a “very good, down-to-earth person” who always autographed artefacts brought to his home.

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