Greece remembers and honors Pele, the King of Soccer

Greek soccer remembers Pele, the sport’s “king” who passed away on Thursday at Sao Paulo in Brazil at the age of 82 years, with some fond memories, respect and admiration for arguably the best player the world has ever seen.

Pele graced Greece with several visits after his illustrious career, but also during its course, when he played friendly games with his club Santos against Greek teams AEK, Panathinaikos and Olympiakos in Athens in the summer of 1961.

Santos beat AEK 3-0 and Panathinaikos 3-2, but could not beat Olympiakos that won 2-1, though rival club’s fans argued that Olympiakos players targeted Pele’s legs first instead of the ball…

The three-time world champion with Brazil (in 1958, 1962 and 1970) returned to Greece several times after the end of his career, and in one of them, in 2005, he was hosted by Olympiakos in Piraeus and given an honorary membership of the club.

He was also invited to launch a sports center at Xanthi, in northern Greece, a day later, enjoying his immense popularity in this corner of the world, too.

Then in 2006 Pele came back to Athens and participated in a special event by the union of Greek professional soccer players, as well as visiting a shopping center to sign countless autographs.

Upon hearing the news of Pele’s death, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted: “He was and will be the King of Soccer. Farewell Pele.”

Ήταν και θα είναι ο βασιλιάς του ποδοσφαίρου. Αντίο Πελέ. pic.twitter.com/rytJ6R8XRL

— Kyriakos Mitsotakis (@kmitsotakis) December 29, 2022

Greek clubs also issued statements in honor of the deceased “King.” Olympiakos issued a statement in which it said “KIng Pele, infinitely in our hearts” and cited the fact that the 1961 friendly is mentioned in the club’s anthem. Panathinaikos wrote in English: “Rest in peace, king of football…Pele” on Instagram, while AEK stated that “the King is here no more, global soccer has got poorer.”