Michael Caine has said it was a "great privilege" for him to act alongside the late Brazilian great Pele in the 1981 film Escape to Victory, remembering him as "the most outstanding football talent, who could act".
The three-time World Cup winner, who scored more than 1,000 goals in his career, died on December 29 aged 82 after a battle with cancer.
Prior to his burial on Tuesday his coffin lay in state at the home of his former club Santos in Sao Paulo for a period to allow thousands of fans to pay their respects.
Pele's global stardom on the pitch saw him take on a leading role in the 1981 film about Allied prisoners of war playing an exhibition football match against the Germans.
Acting veteran Michael Caine, 89, starred alongside him as well as Hollywood A-listers Sylvester Stallone and Max von Sydow.
Fellow players including England captain Bobby Moore and Ossie Ardiles, the midfielder who was a World Cup winner with Argentina in 1978, also featured in the sports war film.
In a tribute shared with the PA news agency, Michael Caine said: "It was such a great privilege for me to film with Pele.
"He was the most outstanding football talent, who could act. He was also a huge global humanitarian icon."
