Basílio: 1977 Paulistão win ended Corinthians’ long wait

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Central do Timão

·14. Oktober 2025

Basílio: 1977 Paulistão win ended Corinthians’ long wait

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

October 13 is an unforgettable date for any Corinthians fan spread across the planet. This is because, on this date in 1977, Corinthians broke a 23-year title drought in a historic Paulista Championship final – decided in three matches – against Ponte Preta at Morumbi Stadium.

On that day, over 140,000 people were present, a record attendance in the entire history of the stadium, which belongs to one of Alvinegro's biggest rivals: São Paulo. The scorer of the goal that secured the title for Corinthians against the Campinas team, former midfielder Basílio – known by the faithful as “Pé de Anjo” – recalled and emphasized the importance of that victory in an interview with the program Benja Me Mucho, by journalist Benjamin Back.

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Photo: José Manoel Idalgo/Agência Corinthians

“It was a Paulista, but it was a Paulista where all the great players from other states wanted to come and compete in the Paulista championship, and having gone 23 years without a title, it was something that, incredibly, the fans themselves would say: ‘I don't want to win the Brazilian Championship, I don't want to win the Libertadores, I want to break this Paulista drought‘. And it ended up happening in a positive way, and from then on, everything changed.”

He was then asked about what went through his mind at the moment the ball hit the net and if after the goal he felt the sensation that the match was ‘already over’: “What you feel is that you have the advantage, it was just the goal, I just scored the goal, nothing more, because we still had seven or eight more minutes to play, they were seven or eight eternal minutes in our lives while we were there. Until Dulcídio practically blew the final whistle (of the match), but at the moment, no, what you have is simply the advantage,” he said.

During his time at Corinthians, Basílio played 253 matches (222 as a starter), achieving 128 victories, 67 draws, and 58 losses – nearly 60% success rate, scoring 29 goals from March 1975 to March 1981. Additionally, he won the following titles with Alvinegro: Paulista Championship (1977 and 1979) and the Governor's Cup (1977).

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