For Tricolor and against his own homeland | OneFootball

Reviving São Paulo’s historic connection with Uruguayan football, and as a warm-up for the pre-match of Spain versus Uruguay at the 2026 World Cup, the Historical Archive brings back a great match played in 1974, when Pedro Rocha and Forlán represented Tricolor against their own national team.

With only a few days left before the 1974 World Cup, the Uruguay National Team asked São Paulo to release Forlán and Pedro Rocha, both called up, for training camp and preparatory friendlies. In exchange for this release, the Uruguayan association and Tricolor agreed to a charity friendly at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo.

São Paulo came in on a high, unbeaten in 18 matches. They had not lost since February, when they were beaten 1-0 by Cruzeiro at Mineirão. They had just defeated Jorge Wilstermann at home 5-0 in a Copa Libertadores match, a group they were leading — that season São Paulo would go on to finish as runners-up in the competition.

The delegation, made up of Waldir Peres, Getúlio, Nelson, Samuel, Arlindo, Gilberto Sorriso, Chicão, Pedro Rocha, Mauro, Piau, Serginho Chulapa, Teodoro, Zé Carlos, Mirandinha, Gésum, Mauro and Silva, traveled to the neighboring country on May 9. There, they would still have time for a physical training session and for Poy to decide the lineup. Tricolor was missing Terto, Ademir and Paranhos. Piau had inflamed eyes and was also not certain to play, even though he was part of the squad.

In the Uruguayan capital, local officials tried to convince the Tricolor delegation to let Pedro Rocha and Pablo Forlán play for La Celeste, or at least spend one half with each team. No agreement was reached: they would play for Tricolor, including Forlán, who was already in Uruguay and had reported to the national team, having played against Ireland.

THE OPPONENT

Uruguay, seeded at that year’s World Cup for having been a semifinalist in the 1970 tournament, had beaten the Republic of Ireland on May 8 at home, 2-0, with two goals by Morena. It was the team’s eighth warm-up match, but only Forlán’s first with them.

The standout players on that Uruguayan team were, besides Rocha and Forlán, goalkeeper Mazurkiewicz of Atlético Mineiro, midfielders Cubilla and Castillo (neither would play in the friendly), as well as full-back Pavoni — who would score La Celeste’s only goal at that year’s World Cup.

The team was far from unanimously backed in Uruguay (and as the World Cup results would later show, with good reason), and for that reason too the local press approved of the friendly against the strong Tricolor, saying it would be the ideal and toughest test of La Celeste’s entire preparation. Expectations for the match were high. Fired up, the opposing fans packed Estadio Centenario: 55,000 paid attendance, more than 70,000 present.

THE MATCH

“Excitement from the start” – That was the headline of O Estado de São Paulo’s report on May 12 about the match played the day before in Montevideo. It also notes that the game was “described as ‘thrilling’ by the local commentators themselves.” It was much more than that.

Just three minutes after kickoff, Waldir Peres made a spectacular save from full-back Pavoni’s shot. São Paulo settled into the match, however, and with patient passing began tocontrol the game.

Tricolor lined up in a classic 4-2-4, typical of the era, to try to break through the Uruguayan system which, despite being strongly defensive, still did not prevent them from threatening the São Paulo goalkeeper’s goal. The first half ended with the score still level, but not for lack of chances on either side.

Shortly after the restart, in the third minute, came the decisive moment of the match, the epic and unforgettable play for those who were there: Pablo Forlán sent the ball to Pedro Rocha, who drove into La Celeste’s box, one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and delicately guided it into the back of the net. São Paulo goal, goals by Tricolor’s Uruguayans!

After the minute of silence and the round of applause that followed, the rest of the match was overshadowed. Uruguay desperately pushed forward, but every attempt was stopped by São Paulo’s defense, especially goalkeeper Waldir Peres. Even Gilberto’s sending-off at the end of the match did not put the scoreline at risk.

The day after the match, Uruguayan newspapers highlighted the value of the contest and São Paulo’s performance, calling them a “worthy representative of the Brazilian school,” but above all Pedro Rocha’s display, on the day the captain scored a goal against his own homeland.

PRAISE

URUGUAY NATIONAL TEAM 0 x 1 SÃO PAULO05/11/1974. Saturday (4 p.m.). Dr. Cyro Ciambruno Trophy: Single Match. Montevideo (Uruguay), Estadio Centenario.

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