If Monday"s wake for Brazilian football legend Pele was a day of reflection, Tuesday"s funeral cortege was one of carnivalesque proportions. The 82-year-old, who many regarded as the world"s best football player, died on 29 December. His coffin arrived in Santos on Monday, where thousands of mourners came to pay their respects at the ground of his former club - some even queued overnight. On Tuesday, supporters" club Torcida Jovem gathered outside the Urbano Caldeira stadium ahead of the casket leaving. Fans waved huge black and white banners, the colors of Santos Football Club. Many wore the number 10 shirt that Pele made so famous. "Only Pele, 1,000 goals," they repeatedly chanted as people beat drums and danced in the street. His body was then accompanied for seven kilometers through the streets of Santos while helicopters flew overhead. His coffin was carried on a fire engine, as is traditional in official parades. It traveled along the seafront and past Pele"s mother"s house - she turned 100 last year. There, a relative asked for a minute"s silence and the party atmosphere hushed immediately as Doña Celeste clutched her hands in prayer. These past few days have halted the busy coastal city of Santos. "He was important for the whole world, for young people too," said Marcia Simões, who was standing with her sons Eduardo and Mario at the road leading to Pele"s burial place. "I"m prouder than ever to be from Santos." That was a feeling echoed by so many mourners - that he was the best of Brazil. "Everyone in Brazil wants to be a football player to imitate him," said Thiago Silva, one of the last people in the queue before the wake ended. "Of course, nobody can." "My father was a Pele fanatic," said Sandra Garcia, who was with 11-year-old Enzo. "I got really emotional remembering my father - if he was alive, no question he would have been here crying. I grew up praising Pele, talking of him and telling stories about him - so it"s important to be here." Even for someone of Enzo"s young age, Pele was a powerful influence. "No question, he beats Cristiano Ronaldo by a long way," he said. "He"s the best player of all time over several decades." — BBC