The Brazilian government and the public paid homage to Hilderaldo Luiz Bellini, the captain of Brazil's first World Cup winning team, who passed away on Thursday. Bellini was 83 and died due to heart ailment. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff joined the thousands of Bellini fans and tweeted 'Bellini forever won a place in the heart of every Brazilian by lifting the Cup with both hands."

He led the Brazilian national team to its first World Cup title in Sweden in 1958 and was the first captain to lift the trophy above his head. Football legend Pele played alongside Bellini in 1958 and remembers him for his good 'guidance'.

"I was 17 years old, was too young and everything was new to me. It is a great loss for Brazilian football," Pele said. The defender captained the team to a 5-2 victory against host Sweden. The state honoured him by raising a statue of him holding the Jules Rimet trophy outside the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

Bellini will be put to rest on Saturday at Sao Paulo. The country's revisit to the 1958 glory has come as a wakeup call to the Brazilian national team ranked 11^th by Fifa. Brazil won a record five World Cups, the last being in 2002.