An unbeaten first trip to Colombia | OneFootball

As Colombia takes on Ghana for a place in the knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup, São Paulo’s Historical Archive recalls the Tricolor’s first trip to the neighboring South American country, with two wins and three draws.

In 1955, São Paulo embarked on a tour of the Americas. The trip had begun in Mexico, where the team won the first trophy in the club’s history earned on foreign soil, on its own. The tour then moved on to Colombia, on June 22, on an Azteca flight to Las Playas Airport (now Olaya Herrera), in Medellín, with another stopover in Panama.

The Tricolor’s first match on Colombian soil was against the country’s champion, Atlético Nacional, on the 25th, and the team only avoided defeat at Atanasio Girardot Stadium thanks to a goal by Canhoteiro in the 46th minute of the second half. Fair enough, the home side’s second goal had only come two minutes earlier! The final score was 2-2 (the visitors’ first goal was scored by Maurinho).

“Drama in the final minutes: in miraculous fashion the Brazilians escaped defeat” (El Colombiano, June 26, 1955).

ATLÉTICO NACIONAL 2 x 2 SÃO PAULO06/25/1955. International Friendly: Single Match.Medellín (Colombia), Atanasio Girardot Stadium.

SPFC: Jose Poy; De Sordi and Mauro; Pé de Valsa (Víctor), Bauer and Turcão; Maurinho, Lanzoninho (Canhoteiro), Paraíba, Dino Sani and Teixeirinha. COACH: Vicente Feola. GOALS: Maurinho, 30/2; Canhoteiro, 46/2.

OPPONENT: Gabriel Mejía; Hernán Escobar and Roberto Martínez; Ignacio Calle, Nicolás Gianastasio (Apolo García) and Ulises Terra; Domingo Pepe, Alfredo Mosquera (Miguel Zazzini), Juan Carlos Toja, Humberto Álvarez and José Luis Lanza (Paglioni). COACH: Fernando Paternóster. GOALS: Juan Carlos Toja, 26/2; Humberto Alvarez, 44/2.

REFEREE: Mario Ruben Heyn (Colombia).GATE: 20,894.50 Colombian pesos.ATTENDANCE: 10,600 paid

On June 29, at the same venue as the previous match, the Tricolor faced Independiente Medellín and came away with another draw, this time 1-1, once again with a goal scored late in the game (by Paraíba, in the 42nd minute).

“The Tricolors ‘bombarded’ the opposing goal, subjecting goalkeeper Sanchez to constant pressure and giving the defenders the chance to truly show their worth in preventing their goal from being breached. They did not win, then, because they were plagued by bad luck in some plays and, in the end, by the goalkeeper’s tremendous performance…” (A Gazeta Esportiva, July 8, 1955).

INDEPENDIENTE MEDELLÍN 1 x 1 SÃO PAULO06/29/1955. International Friendly: Single Match.Medellín (Colombia), Atanasio Girardot Stadium.

SPFC: Jose Poy; De Sordi and Mauro; Pé de Valsa, Bauer and Alfredo Ramos; Maurinho (Roque), Lanzoninho (Teixeirinha), Paraíba, Dino Sani and Canhoteiro. COACH: Vicente Feola. GOAL: Paraíba, 42/2.

OPPONENT: Efraín Sánchez; Lauro Rodríguez and Lidoro Soria; Francisco Pacheco, Pedro Retamozo (Lorenzo Calonga) and Hernando Caicedo; Orlando Larraz, Manuel Moreno, René Seghini, Felipe Marino and Valerio Delatour (Carlos Arango). COACH: Delfín Benítez Cáceres. GOAL: Felipe Marino, 15/2.

REFEREE: Jose A. Sundheim.GATE: 39,111.50 Colombian pesos.ATTENDANCE: 20,000 paid

The first win in Colombia came in the second clash against Atlético Nacional, on July 3, after a downpour, and it made clear there was no doubt which team was better: Tricolor 3-0! With two goals from Paraíba and one from Canhoteiro.

“Sao Paulo crushed Nacional: before 13 thousand spectators, the Colombian champion fell” (El Tiempo, July 4, 1955).

ATLÉTICO NACIONAL 0 x 3 SÃO PAULO07/03/1955. International Friendly: Single Match.Medellín (Colombia), Atanasio Girardot Stadium.

SPFC: Jose Poy (Costa); De Sordi and Mauro (Pirani); Pé de Valsa, Bauer (Víctor) and Alfredo Ramos (Turcão); Maurinho (Teixeirinha), Lanzoninho, Paraíba, Dino Sani (Roque) and Canhoteiro (Válter). COACH: Vicente Feola. GOALS: Paraíba, 29/1; Canhoteiro, 10/2; Paraíba, 16/2. SENT OFF: Lanzoninho, 5/2.

OPPONENT: Gabriel Mejía; Hernán Escobar and Roberto Martínez; Ignacio Calle (Rodríguez), Nicolás Gianastasio (Apolo García) and Ulises Terra; Domingo Pepe, Alfredo Mosquera, Juan Carlos Toja, Miguel Zazzini and José Luis Lanza (Tomasito). COACH: Fernando Paternóster. SENT OFF: Ignacio Calle.

REFEREE: Jose A. Sundheim.GATE: 26,046.50 Colombian pesos.ATTENDANCE: 13,300 paid

Unbeaten in Medellín, São Paulo headed to the city of Cali, where, on July 6, it would face Boca Juniors… from Cali itself, not Buenos Aires (some publications would make that mistake years later).

Lanzoninho hit the post twice, once in each half, but Paraíba, ruthless once again, scored the first and Maurinho sealed the result: 2-0 at Pascual Guerrero Stadium. The Brazilian press representative covering the match (Sebastião Barbosa, from A Gazeta Esportiva), however, picked winger Canhoteiro and center-half Bauer as the best players of the night.

The local media, in turn, praised the Tricolor as a whole: “…which ended with the utterly deserved 2-0 victory for the visitors. Sao Paulo’s men displayed clear superiority, once again confirming their power, their excellent play, and their great physical condition” (El País, July 7, 1955).

BOCA JUNIORS 0 x 2 SÃO PAULO07/06/1955. International Friendly: Single Match.Cali (Colombia), Pascual Guerrero Stadium.

SPFC: Jose Poy; De Sordi (Turcão) and Mauro; Pé de Valsa, Bauer and Alfredo Ramos (Víctor); Maurinho, Lanzoninho (Teixeirinha), Paraíba, Roque and Canhoteiro. COACH: Vicente Feola. GOALS: Paraíba (header), 9/1; Maurinho, 8/2.

OPPONENT: Gonzalo Escobar; Elmo Palomino and Ángel Chávez; Candal, Cuevas and Santiago Rivas; Miguel Panesso, H. Crespo, Fernando Rengifo, Morello (Delacuy) and Jesús Obando. COACH: Julio Tocker.

REFEREE: Marco Tulio Amaya (Colombia).GATE: 19,016.40 Colombian pesos.ATTENDANCE: 9,700 paid

São Paulo’s last battle in Colombia was in Bogotá, on July 10, at the famous El Campín, and the battle-hardened team from São Paulo, even amid a tiring run of matches and facing yet another pitch battered by the heavy rain in the hours before kickoff, once again did not give in and avoided defeat.

Against Millonarios, on a poor field because of the rain, the team again spent its last reserves of energy and equalized in the closing minutes: Paraíba, in the 43rd minute, once more found the back of the net, making it 2-2 — the Tricolor’s first goal had come from Maurinho in the first half.

With so many goals scored on this tour (five), Paraíba became the Tricolor’s biggest name among the local press and fans. To the Colombians, he was “Thomaz de Aquino”, or “El Santo” — the player’s full name, better known in Brazil by the nickname taken from where he was born, was Sebastião Thomaz de Aquino.

MILLONARIOS 2 x 2 SÃO PAULO07/10/1955. International Friendly: Single Match.Bogotá (Colombia), Nemésio Camacho Stadium – El Campín.

SPFC: Jose Poy; De Sordi and Mauro; Pé de Valsa, Bauer and Alfredo Ramos; Maurinho, Lanzoninho, Paraíba, Roque (Teixeirinha) and Canhoteiro. COACH: Vicente Feola. GOALS: Maurinho (header), 41/1; Paraíba, 43/2.

OPPONENT: Hernández; Francisco Zuluaga and Vega; Hernando Moyano, Luis Alberto Rubio and Hernando González; Liborio Guzmán, Maiyelenic (Jorge Roa), Alfredo Castillo, Morello and Rafael Valek. COACH: Donald Ross. GOALS: Alfredo Castillo, 24/2; Rafael Valek, 40/2.

REFEREE: Jesus Lires Lopes (Colombia).GATE: 26,142.00 Colombian pesos.ATTENDANCE: 13,400 paid

On an Avianca four-engine plane, the Tricolor left Colombia on July 12, unbeaten, and headed to Caracas, Venezuela, where it would compete in the Little World Cup, as the friendly Copa General de Brigada Marcos Pérez Jiménez tournament was informally known.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.