Pele was there at Salt Lake Stadium the day he passed away

The football vertical mourned the demise of the Brazilian legend.

Pele came to Kolkata not twice but thrice. First, in 1977, wearing the Cosmos shirt, when he played against Mohun Bagan at the Eden Gardens. Second, in 2015. And finally, on December 30, 2022. Yes, you read it right.

He wasn't seen at the Salt Lake physically, but he was definitely somewhere in the stands as two #10s scored for their respective clubs, East Bengal and Bengaluru FC. He was watching the players and blessing them. Perhaps, there were tears in his eyes as he wasn't able to take the field. But the legend remains in everyone's memory.

Furthermore, it was Cleiton Silva, a Brazilian, who scored the winner in the dying moments for East Bengal from a brilliant free-kick. In fact, Cleiton's winner would have surely made Pele proud as the free-kick swirled past a diving Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. Despite being 6.5 ft in height, the set-piece was literally out of reach for the India international. Oh yes, another thing. Cleiton replicated the celebration of Pele from the 1970 FIFA World Cup after his second goal too! He said after the match, "Before the game, I spoke to Suhair that if we score today, we will celebrate like Pele did in the 1970 World Cup. Pele will never die. He will be with us forever."

The three Kolkata clubs paid their respect to the Brazilian legend at the Salt Lake Stadium. Just outside the press conference room, a large part of the mixed zone saw a picture of Pele decorated with flowers. The banners on the two sides of Pele's picture read (translated from Bengali), "Bow down to the King of Football". Even before the start of the game, when the national anthem was over, both teams gathered in a circle to pay respect to Pele.

What did Pele not win in his life? Three World Cups are just the tip of the iceberg. He turned this game into a 'beautiful' one. As he leaves for the heavenly abode, we from Khel Now send our condolences to his family.