Both Estudiantes and Gimnasia had the opportunity to face Santos de Pelé, that Brazilian team that in the 60s became a true sporting phenomenon, and the curious thing is that “O Rei”, the standard bearer of that so-called “white ballet ”, could not lead his team to victory, something that was usual. What’s more, the owner of the number “10” jersey, the most popular player in the world at that time, couldn’t even show off.
To get an idea of the significance of those episodes that had stadiums 57 and 1 as their epicenters, in the case of the Albirrojos, and 60 and 118, in that of the Albiazules, it may well be remembered that Santos, at that time, He starred in a total of 11 matches with Boca Juniors and River Plate, the two biggest in Argentina, with a largely favorable balance: eight games won, two tied and only one loss.
To lead to those historic visits by Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé, to our city, it is necessary to travel to the Gymnastics field on February 9, 1962, in the Forest, and to the Student field on December 4, 1969, on the avenue 1.
2 ON 2 IN THE FOREST
The mythical Santos de Pelé arrived to cross paths with Gimnasia in a friendly match in the summer of 1962, more precisely on February 9, three months after having crushed Racing 8-1, the Argentine champion, who had taken sacred with an advantage of seven points over the second.
“I put a tunnel in it. El Negro said ‘Muito bem’ and declared that I was the Argentinian who scored the best”
Daniel Bayo,
gymnastics midfielder
Nothing to do with what happened in 60 and 118 with what happened in Avellaneda, to the point that the Albiazul team was superior and with solid arguments achieved a 2-2 draw, and note that that year Santos won the Brazilian triple crown, understanding for this the Brazilian League, the Copa Libertadores and the European-South American Cup.
Even more: in addition to Pelé, Santos appeared on that tour of Argentina with six other players who made up the national team that months later won the World Cup organized by Chile: Gilmar, Mauro Ramos, Zito, Mengálvio, Pepe and Coutinho .
How did you form Gymnastics? Under the technical direction of Enrique Fernández Viola, he presented the following formation: Carlos Minoian; Pedro Galeano and José Marinovich; Walter Davoine, Daniel Bayo and Domingo Lejona; Hugo Carro, Eliseo Prado, Julio Cortés, Diego Bayo and Oscar Gómez Sánchez. A true team, which in the subsequent Argentine championship ended up occupying third place in the table, behind Boca and River.
The greeting with Eliseo prado in the 2 to 2 in the Forest. Year 1962 / Archive
The result of that match remained, logically, and a detail that was passed down from generation to generation: Daniel Bayo was in charge of marking Pelé, who was barely 21 years old at the time, the same age as the person who was in charge of annulling it and even he had the luxury of making a “tunnel” for it.
Also highlighted that night was Julio César (“Pocho”) Cortés, the Uruguayan who scored the first of the Gymnastics goals. The rest was signed by Eliseo Prado, while Pepe and Mengalvio scored for Santos.
DEFEAT 3-1 IN 57 AND 1
Santos from Brazil, with Pelé, returned to La Plata on December 4, 1969, to face Estudiantes in an official match, corresponding to the Intercontinental Champions Super Cup, which at that time brought together the champion clubs of the continent that had dedicated themselves to world-wide level and that hardly was disputed in two editions.
“He eluded me, I saw him, I stretched and I sent the ball to the corner. ‘Muito bom, goleiro, bom’, he congratulated me ”
Gabriel “Bambi” Flores,
student goalkeeper
The white team had just won the tournament in Brazil the previous season and also this one featuring the intercontinental champions, which in the case of Santos had been the result of a victory in the final against Inter from Italy, no less than in the Giuseppe Meazza stadium.
Estudiantes, at that time, also had credentials, because they had just been champion five times in two years and were the current champion of the Copa Libertadores. With three significant casualties, such as those of Alberto Poletti, Eduardo Luján Manera and Ramón Aguirre Suárez, suspended.
At 1 and 55, Santos with Pelé took a 3-1 defeat for the ’69 Super Cup / Archive
Osvaldo Zubeldía was in charge of technical management and the student team that won 3-1 was formed as follows: Gabriel Flores; Rubén Pagnanini, Hugo Spadaro, Raúl Madero and Oscar Malbernat; Carlos Bilardo, Nestor Togneri and Daniel Romeo; Marcos Conigliaro, Camilo Aguilar and Juan Ramón Verón.
The chronicles of that time highlighted the performance of “Bambi” Flores, although Juan Ramón Verón, the “Witch”, left his mark twice, as he was the one who scored the first and third goals for his team. The rest was paid by Conigliaro, while Manoel María discounted for the visitors. That night at 57 and 1, the fans celebrated singing: “And you see it, and you see it, the goals of the Witch are not even scored by Pelé”
Both teams had to play the rematch in São Paulo, although it did not take place because neither of them reached that date with a chance of being champion, which is why the rematch match was suspended.
