Home of the 1950 world champions | OneFootball

Some São Paulo supporters may not know it, but the Tricolor once had as its headquarters a pleasant retreat in the area where the Canindé Stadium stands today. From 1942 to 1956 (and from 1944 to 1955 as its owner), São Paulo used the sports and social complex located there as a country club headquarters and training ground for its football and athletics teams.

Just as when the club hosted the United States and Colombia national teams at its facilities at the Barra Funda Training Center and the Cotia Athlete Development Center during the 2014 World Cup, the Tricolor also had the honor of hosting a national team for the 1950 edition. None other than the country that would go on to win that tournament, defeating the host nation, which had drawn more than 200,000 people to the Maracanã stadium.

Uruguay arrived in the city of São Paulo on July 5 for the final four-team stage of the World Cup. At Pacaembu Stadium they would face Spain on the 9th and Sweden on the 13th of that month. The players, coaching staff, and directors then stayed at Canindé until their departure from the São Paulo capital, since on the 16th they would face Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.

TRICOLOR RETREAT

About those ten days at the Tricolor, player Ghiggia says in the documentary “Maracaná” (Sebastián Bednarik and Andrés Varela, 2014) that “la concentración em San Pablo era muy linda, muy tranquila”. The documentary, incidentally, shows training footage of Uruguayan players on the headquarters’ pitch (see below).

In addition to lodging, São Paulo helped the “Orientals” with training, sports equipment, and food. It is known that on July 6 the Uruguayan team held a familiarization session on the Pacaembu pitch, using Tricolor players to make up the reserve side, which, incidentally, beat the starters 7–5. Yeso, Toni, and Zequinha took part in that practice match.

Newspapers O Estado de São Paulo and Folha da Manhã, on July 12, reported a curiosity about La Celeste’s training sessions at Canindé and that team’s fighting spirit. In a practice match against Arara Clube, two Uruguayan players, Godoy and Gambeta, came to blows on the field (with each other or with opponents—the newspapers contradict each other) and caused the match to end early while they were leading 2–1.

DONA CATHARINA

Regarding the guests’ meals, Dona Catharina Pugliese Serrone, São Paulo’s cook at the time, said the following in the São Paulo FC and Museu da Pessoa Multimedia History project (1994):

“The Uruguay national team stayed there in camp. There at Canindé. And they ate there, and at home. They were very polite. Sometimes they would walk from Canindé to my house, which was nearby. And they would come all together, in a single line, all together…”. When asked what the visitors ate, she replied immediately: “Oh, just meat! Meat, meat, meat, a little rice and pasta or soup”.

On another occasion: Serrone and Catharina welcome Ruy, Bauer, Teixeirinha, and other São Paulo athletes. Photo: São Paulo Antiga

As for the reputation of Obdulio Varela, leader of the Uruguayan team, as a stubborn commander, Dona Catharina agreed: “He was kind of tall, not very fat. Fierce! He shouted at the players. He was the one in charge of the players. He was the team captain”.

Fifteen days after returning to Uruguay as champions, the players gave Dona Catharina and her husband, Mr. Serrone (São Paulo’s kit man), airline tickets to visit Uruguay and stay there for two weeks.

HONOR

The tributes and thanks for the welcome did not stop there. Even before the end of the competition, the Celeste players honored São Paulo by taking the field in a World Cup match with the Tricolor crest on their chest.

Uruguay against Spain in a World Cup match. Goalkeeper Paz, on the right, wearing São Paulo colors

That was what goalkeeper Aníbal Paz (the backup) did in the match against Spain at Pacaembu. The match ended in a 2–2 draw and Paz did not play, but the photo (see above) was immortalized in magazines and newspapers. The feat makes São Paulo, alongside Malmö of Sweden (1958, with Argentina players), the only clubs to this day to have their emblems displayed by players in World Cup matches—other clubs also outfitted national teams in the tournament, such as Napoli-ITA with Austria in 1938; Cruzeiro-RS with Mexico in 1950; and Kimberley-ARG with France in 1978.

The Uruguayans said goodbye to the Tricolors and to Canindé on July 14. Two days later they would stun Brazil and the world by defeating the Canarinho national team 2–1, coming from behind, in an overcrowded stadium with more than 200,000 spectators hostile to the visitors. “El Maracanazo”.

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