Clube Atlético Juventus 0-4 Santos (lost footage of Campeonato Paulista football match and Pelé's "greatest goal"; 1959)

From The Lost Media Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Merch
Discord
Patreon
Forums
Clubeatletico0-4santos1.png

Pelé scoring what he considered as his greatest ever goal.

Status: Lost

On 2nd August 1959, Clube Atlético Juventus hosted Santos for a Campeonato Paulista da Primeira Divisão football match. Occurring at the Rua Javari, it saw Santos dominate proceedings to win 4-0, thanks to a Pelé hat-trick and a Dorval Rodrigues goal. The encounter has become famous for Pelé's final goal in the 87th minute, which was declared by himself and several journalists as the Brazilian striker's career-best goal. The match was televised and recorded, but the footage has since become permanently missing following an arson attack that destroyed the majority of television company Record's archives.

Background

Heading into the match, Santos were the defending Campeonato Paulista champions.[1] The club was in the early stages of its Os Santásticos era, where thanks to the development of players like Pelé, Pepe, and Zito under Lula's management, would later become among the most dominant teams within Brazil and in international competitions.[2][3] The Juventus game marked the team's first away game of the season; beforehand Santos defeated Jabaquara 7-0 on 23rd July; XV de Piracicaba 8-2 on 26th July; and 3-1 against Portuguesa Santista on 29th July.[4][5][6][7]

In contrast, Juventus had already played eight games, having won three, drawn four and lost two.[8][6] Its final match beforehand was a 1-0 away defeat to Comercial de Ribeirão Preto on 26th July.[9][8][6] Match previews highlighted the match as the most prominent twelfth-round clash.[10][4] Most noted the return of Pelé, who had been absent for the Portuguesa Santista encounter so that he could play a friendly involving the Exército Nacional.[10][5] Meanwhile, the Juventus squad was considered relatively young and were under the coaching of former top-level Brazilian midfielder Carlos Bauer.[11][12][10] The match was refereed by Sebastiao Mairiques.[13][11]

The Match

The match occurred on 2nd August 1959 at the Rua Javari.[14][15][6] It reportedly generated Cr$625,025 (Brazilian cruzeiro), deemed a startling amount for a Juventus home game especially when it was rain-affected.[13][11] Estimated attendances range between 60,000 to 100,000.[16][15] Perhaps unsurprisingly, the home support was quick to antagonise Pelé and his teammates, with Juventus regarded as the clear underdogs.[17][10] This initially seemed to work, as it was actually Juventus who forced Santos on the backfoot during the game's early stages, narrowly missing a few chances.[11][13] However, it was the visitors who took the lead courtesy of a 23rd-minute Pelé strike.[13][11][14] Juventus' first-half offence was further thwarted by overly aggressive Santos tackles, particularly by Pelé, Lanzoninho, Mourao, and Coutinho.[13][11] Jornal dos Sports and Diário da Noite blamed referee Mairiques for his failure to control the game, with the latter accusing Santos' defence of attempting to intimidate the younger opposition.[13][11] Diário da Noite also felt that Lanzoninho and Mourao should have been sent off.[11] Ultimately, Juventus were considered unfortunate that they failed to secure a single first-half goal.[11][13][14]

In the second half, Juventus put on firm resistance against relentless Santos attacks.[11] Alas, a mistake by Homero was pounced on by Pelé, allowing him to double Santos' lead after 52 minutes.[11][14][13] Buzzoni attempted to immediately pull one back, but although his shot beat Manga, it was rebounded by the post.[11] 19 minutes later, Dorval Rodrigues out-psyched the home side's crumbling defence to make it 3-0.[11][14][13] More strong Santos tackles were reported; during an attempted bicycle kick by Juventus midfielder Pando, a collision between himself and either Pelé or Coutinho forced him off the game due to injury.[11][13] Homero was also badly affected, forcing a weakened Juventus side to contend with only ten players on the field.[11][13]

It was in the 87th minute when the game's iconic moment transpired.[18][19][17][16][15][14] Coutinho passed at the midway line towards Dorval, who sneaked past a Juventus defender and launched a right-side cross towards Pelé. After stunning defender Julinho, two other defenders and goalkeeper Mão de Onça were still in his path. With the ball bouncing in front of him, the Santos striker lobbed over the approaching Homero. Before it could reach the ground, Pelé lobbed the ball over Clóvis. Mão de Onça tried in vain to stop the attack by diving towards the ball, but Pelé had the challenge well-scouted, again after lobbing the ball.[17][15][18][16] Now with an unguarded target in front of him, Pelé calmly proceeded to land a header towards goal.[16][17][18][15][19][14] He celebrated by jumping and punching the air in front of the same home crowd who antagonised him throughout.[17][15] This goal not only marked his match hat-trick but his 200th playing for Santos.[17] Even the Juventus crowd and opposing players were amazed by the play they had just witnessed and subsequently applauded the young Santos player.[19]

Despite the final score, newspaper reports believed the match proved a challenge for the defending champions.[11][13][14] The reports highly praised Pelé for his performance, with Jornal dos Sports citing two goals from the striker as "extraordinary".[13][11] Following this clash and the other twelfth-round results, Juventus fell two places to eighth.[14] Meanwhile, Santos climbed to 16th, their low league position a result of them only playing four matches compared to some teams who had already contended eleven.[14] On 11th November, Juventus travelled to the Estádio Urbano Caldeira for a rematch.[20] The result was again one-sided, with Santos winning 5-1 in part thanks to another Pelé hat trick.[20]

By this point, Juventus had endured a modest 1959 Campeonato Paulista campaign, eventually finishing tenth out of 20 sides.[6][7][20] Meanwhile, Santos competed against Palmeiras for the championship; by the season's end, both teams were on 63 points each, necessitating a playoff.[7][6] After drawing the first two games 1-1 and 2-2, Santos ultimately lost the decider 2-1 on 10th January 1960.[21][7][6] Nevertheless, Santos did lift the 1959 Taça Brasil by defeating Bahia 2-0 in the Final on 30th December 1959.[22] They were also the 1959 Torneio Rio-São Paulo champions.[23]

Availability

Santos' Os Santásticos era concluded in 1974 following Pelé's departure.[2] By that point, the club had become one of the most successful worldwide.[24][2][3] Among the 25 titles they earned since 1959 included the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores and subsequently the 1962 and 1963 Intercontinental Cups.[2][24][3] 1962 also saw Santos become the Campeonato Paulista and Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion, giving the club the distinction as the first to earn a treble.[3][2][24] Key to Santos' success was Pelé; when he left the club in 1974, he managed to score a then-record 643 goals in 659 Santos matches, with him scoring a record (though disputed) 1,283 from 1,363 overall starts.[25][26][27] 1959 saw him accumulate 127 for Santos alone.[25] But even by 1966, Pelé's third goal on 2nd August 1959 reached iconic status in Brazil, with A Tribuna journalists declaring it as a "jewel" and a goal that would be stuck in the "the soul, in the spirit, in the heart, in the entire feeling of whoever saw it appear in the middle of two twilights".[16][17][18][15] Such was its fame that on 29th August 2006, Juventus commemorated the occasion by unveiling a bust of Pelé at the Rua Javari.[28][17]

Pelé himself stated in 1966 that while the strike was not his favourite, as it occurred during a match with a foregone conclusion, it was certainly his best from a technical perspective.[16] But according to various sources outside of Brazil, the famous goal was never seemingly captured on film.[29][18][28][15] However, many Brazilian fans and journalists contested this, claiming that the match itself received live coverage, during a time period where this was uncommon.[15] Back in the 1950s, most Brazilian clubs were concerned that regular live match broadcasts would reduce ground attendance, a worry reflected in other countries like the United Kingdom.[30][15] However, according to the 2009 autobiography written by pioneering radio and television journalist Tuta, the Juventus-Santos game was televised live by Record and later preserved in its archives.[31][15]

The recording was never known to have been threatened by tape wiping, a fate that has befallen numerous other 1950s television broadcasts.[32] However, Brazilian television archives have been badly affected over the decades, with flooding and especially fires causing the destruction of historic media.[33] Record has suffered several fires during its history; most prominently, on the morning of 29th July 1966, Record's headquarters would be set ablaze, allegedly due to arson.[33][31][15] It ultimately reached the archive centre and destroyed approximately 320 rolls of tapes.[33][31] In an instant, priceless artefacts from Record's inaugural years instantly became forever lost.[33] Among the destroyed recordings included Record's football library and with it the full Juventus-Santos coverage.[31][15]

The lack of available footage even led some websites to question its authenticity, some going as far as to label Pelé a fraud.[19] Nevertheless, thanks to two available photographs that validate the goal's existence,[29][19][31] as well as fan, journalist and Pelé's own recollections of the goal, a computer simulation was established in 2004.[15][28][19] It featured the build-up towards the goal, before showcasing the striker successfully lobbing the ball over the Juventus defence, heading it into the goal and subsequently celebrating in front of an aghast home crowd.[29][17][15] It was included in the 2004 documentary Pelé Eterno.[34][29]

Gallery

Video

Pelé Eterno providing a computer simulation of the fourth goal.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ RSSSF Brazil listing the results and final table of the 1959 Campeonato Paulista da Primeira Divisão. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Football's Finest detailing the Os Santásticos era of Santos. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The Hard Tackle documenting Santos' success in the 1960s, including its 1962 treble. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Football Database detailing Santos' 1959 football season. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Football Database detailing the result of the Santos-Portuguesa Santista match on 29th July 1959. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 RSSSF Brazil listing the results and final table of the 1959 Campeonato Paulista da Primeira Divisão. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Football Database detailing the 1959 Campeonato Paulista da Primeira Divisão prior to the playoff matches. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Football Database detailing Juventus' 1959 Campeonato Paulista match list. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  9. ↑ Football Database detailing the result of the Comercial de Ribeirão Preto-Juventus match on 26th July 1959. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 2nd August 1959 issue of Jornal dos Sports previewing the match and noting Pelé's return (article in Portuguese). Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  11. ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 11.14 11.15 11.16 3rd August 1959 issue of Diário da Noite providing a match report (newspaper in Portuguese). Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  12. ↑ Archived Sambafoot profile on Carlos Bauer. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  13. ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 3rd August 1959 issue of Jornal dos Sports providing a match report (newspaper in Portuguese). Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 14.8 14.9 Football Database detailing the result of the match and other statistics. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  15. ↑ 15.00 15.01 15.02 15.03 15.04 15.05 15.06 15.07 15.08 15.09 15.10 15.11 15.12 15.13 15.14 r/lostmedia discussing the famous goal and the lost footage of the match. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 1966 Sports Illustrated article summarising the goal and noting its iconic status in Brazil. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 17.8 Santos FC summarising Pelé's final goal of the match, which it declared an "immortal masterpiece of football" (article in Portuguese). Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 Independent summarising Pelé's third goal as among his best career moments. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 Game of the People summarising what is widely considered Pelé's greatest goal and the dismissal by some sources over its legitimacy. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Football Database detailing the result of the 11th November clash. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  21. ↑ Football Database detailing the result of the Palmeiras-Santos playoff match on 10th January 1960. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  22. ↑ Football Database detailing the result of the 1959 Taça Brasil Final. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  23. ↑ Football Database detailing the results and final table of the 1959 Torneio Rio-São Paulo. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Soccerway summarising Santos' trophy cabinet. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Independent documenting the controversy surrounding Pelé's true goal total. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  26. ↑ TNT Sports noting Pelé had the record for the most goals for a single club until Lionel Messi surpassed it in 2020. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  27. ↑ Football History biography on Pelé also noting he scored 1,283 goals from 1,363 starts. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Times of Malta reporting on Juventus unveiling a bust of Pelé at the Rua Javari and noting a computer simulation of the fourth goal was established. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 Póg Mo Goal summarising the "most beautiful goal" Pelé scored, noting only photographic media exists of it, and the computer simulation. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  30. ↑ Football 365 summarising the resistance Football League officials and clubs had over broadcasting Football League games during the early era of television. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 Ninguém faz sucesso sozinho, which claimed the televised footage of the match was destroyed in an arson attack at Record's headquarters (p.g. 130, book in Portuguese). Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  32. ↑ The Sundae summarising the controversial practice of wiping recordings. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 Bastidores da TV summarising the extent of Brazilian television station fires and other disasters, including the 29th July 1966 blaze that destroyed 320 rolls of tapes from Record's archives (article in Portuguese). Retrieved 19th Nov '23
  34. ↑ Variety summarising Pelé Eterno, which contained the computer simulation of the famous goal. Retrieved 19th Nov '23
Retrieved from "https://lostmediawiki.com/w/index.php?title=Clube_Atlético_Juventus_0-4_Santos_(lost_footage_of_Campeonato_Paulista_football_match_and_Pelé%27s_%22greatest_goal%22;_1959)&oldid=246079"