Pele will live forever in the hearts of all football fans: Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 30 (IANS) One of the all-time greats in the football field -- Pele will always live in the hearts of the football fans, whether they are in his home country, or thousands of miles away in India's Kerala.

"He might have passed away, but he will never pass away from the minds and hearts of Kerala football fans as much adored and loved he is, here. Just have a look every four years when the World Cup Football comes alive, all across Kerala the picture of Pele is displayed and that itself speaks the love the fans here have of the World's best ever player," wrote Vijayan in his Facebook.

Vijayan goes on to add that his loss is going to be the loss of the world as such was his fan following all across the globe.

Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said that legends always become immortal and Pele is one such legend.

Pele, 82, passed away in a private hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after spending nearly a month, battling complications related to advanced cancer.

Labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, football's world governing body, named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999 and included in TIME Magazine's list of 100 most important people of the 20th century, Pele was in 2000 voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century award.

But for millions of fans of the game around the globe, Pele was the first person who made football Jogo Bonito, "the beautiful game".