On August 30, 1962, Santos wrote one of the most important pages in its history. At the Monumental de Núñez Stadium, in Buenos Aires, the Alvinegro defeated Peñarol 3-0 and won the Copa Libertadores for the first time. It was also the first time a Brazilian club had claimed the title in the continent’s main competition.
The campaign to the final began with a group stage without major difficulties. Santos won both matches against Bolivia’s Deportivo Municipal, drew one of the clashes with Cerro Porteño, and handed the Paraguayan club a historic 9-1 thrashing. As group leader, it advanced to the semifinal to face Universidad Católica of Chile.
In Santiago, Santos took the lead through Lima, but conceded the equalizer a few minutes later. At Vila Belmiro, Zito scored the only goal of the match and secured qualification for the final.
On the other side was Peñarol. The reigning South American champion, the Uruguayan side entered directly into the semifinal, where it eliminated Nacional, also from Uruguay. Two-time Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental champions, Peñarol reached the final once again, this time against Santos.
Three matches, one triumph
The first match of the final took place in Montevideo. Without Pelé, who was injured and replaced by Pagão, Santos conceded in the 18th minute but responded. Coutinho equalized in the 28th minute and, 15 minutes into the second half, scored again to secure a 2-1 win for Santos.
With the advantage, Santos needed only a draw at Vila Belmiro to take the title. The match, however, ended surrounded by controversy.
Peñarol opened the scoring, but Santos turned it around still in the first half. Right at the start of the second half, the Uruguayans equalized and got their third goal in the 11th minute from a penalty heavily disputed by Santos players and fans.
The decision caused the beginning of a commotion, and bottles were thrown onto the pitch. In the 22nd minute, Pagão scored Santos’ third goal, making it 3-3.
The fans celebrated the title and, the next day, newspapers presented Santos as champion. Referee Carlos Robles, however, recorded another version in the match report submitted the following day. The document mentioned pitch invasions, threats, and assaults. According to the referee, fearing the situation would worsen, he ended the match when Peñarol was leading 3-2 and considered the rest a “friendly.”
A third match was therefore needed, played at a neutral venue.
The night in Buenos Aires
The Monumental de Núñez welcomed 45,980 paying fans on August 30, 1962. For the first and only time in that competition, Santos was able to field its full lineup, the so-called “Dream Team.”
Recovered from a muscle injury, Pelé returned to the side, which took the field with Gylmar, Lima, Mauro and Dalmo; Calvet and Zito; Dorval, Mengálvio, Coutinho, Pelé and Pepe. The coach was Luiz Alonso Perez, Lula.
Peñarol played with Maidana, Gonzales and Lezcano; Gonçalves, Cano and Caetano; Rojas, Sacía, Spencer, Matosas and Joya.
Santos began the match determined to settle the contest. In the ninth minute, Coutinho received the ball at the edge of the box, cut to the left, pushed forward, and struck as Maidana came out. Caetano tried to stop the goal but ended up deflecting the ball into his own net.
Santos returned from the break keeping up the pace. In the third minute, Dorval, Coutinho and Pelé exchanged passes until the King, after taking a defender out of the play, finished into the left corner to make it 2-0.
Peñarol could not find the strength to respond. In the 44th minute, when part of the Uruguayan crowd was already leaving the stadium, Pelé and Coutinho appeared again. The center forward made the pass and the King simply tapped it into the net, sealing the score at 3-0.
Santos were champions of South America.
The celebration on the pitch
The triumph sparked a pitch invasion. The fans wanted to celebrate alongside the players, especially Pelé, who scored twice in the decider. The King ended up having his shirt torn off by the crowd, who fought over every piece of it.
The other players were also carried by the supporters. Only afterward was the group able to come together for a lap of honor and salute the Santos fans who remained in the stands.
While the celebration was taking place, another memory from the match also gained a curious chapter. Dutch referee Leo Horn kept the ball used in the decider. Faced with the insistence of others who also wanted to take it, he said it would only reappear in the Netherlands. For Horn, that ball represented a trophy for the most important and brilliant match he had ever officiated.
And Santos also won over those in the stadium. In the opening minutes, the Argentine crowd was cheering for Peñarol. Little by little, however, Santos’ moves drew applause from the public and, even before halftime, the Brazilian side was already being celebrated by the Argentinians.
The golden year
The conquest of South America was only one part of a historic season. In 1962, no other team celebrated its 50th anniversary like Santos did.
In addition to the Copa Libertadores, the club won the other three official competitions it played that year: the Campeonato Paulista, the Brazilian Championship, and the Intercontinental competition, or the Club World Championship.
The victory over Peñarol, therefore, opened the way for Santos to also become world champion and cemented 1962 as one of the most remarkable years in the club’s history.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
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