Ramos Delgado, the Argentine star who starred for Santos | OneFootball

By Guilherme Guarche, from the Memory Center

On August 26, 1935, a Monday, José Manuel Ramos Delgado—the unforgettable center back Ramos Delgado—was born in the city of Quilmes, Argentina. His father, Faustino, a Cape Verdean, gave him the surname Ramos, while Delgado came from his mother Maura, who was born in Sicily, Italy.

In 1956, at the age of 20, he began his career at Lanús, a team that over the next two years achieved excellent results, to the point of being nicknamed Los Globetrotters and coming close to winning the Argentine title.

His solid, composed performances earned him a place in the squad for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden and caught the attention of River Plate, which signed him in 1959. With the Buenos Aires club, he won no titles, but he became a great fan idol for his talent in dispossessing opposing players without violence, and his class when playing out from the back was applauded by his Argentine admirers.

Ramos Delgado captained the Argentina national team for many years, and when he arrived at Vila Belmiro he was already an experienced player. At 32, he came with the mission of replacing the great Orlando Peçanha and the legendary Mauro Ramos de Oliveira.

The Argentine star, known in his home country by the nickname “El Negro,” was an extremely intelligent player, who positioned himself inside the penalty area like few others and also had the leadership spirit so common among Argentine players.

His first match for Alvinegro was on August 29, 1967, in Spain, in Santos’s 2-1 defeat to Málaga at La Rosaleda Stadium. Santos, coached by Antônio Fernandes, Antoninho, lined up with: Gylmar, Lima, Joel Camargo, Oberdan and Rildo; Clodoaldo (Ramos Delgado) and Negreiros; Edu, Toninho, Pelé (Douglas) and Abel (Buglê).

Center back José Manuel Ramos Delgado was a rare type. For his extraordinary class, his firm and quiet leadership, for being one of the few Black Argentine players, for continuing to play at a very high level even close to 40 years old, and for having won over Santos fans so easily and so deeply.

Joel Camargo, a Brazil starter, was his backup

One of Ramos Delgado’s feats was remaining a starter for Santos at age 33 and leaving on the bench the young Joel Camargo, 22, who at the time was a starter for the Brazil national team preparing for the 1970 World Cup.

A leader who knew how to impose himself through technique and, why not, also through his athletic build of 1.81 meters and around 78 kilos, Ramos Delgado led Santos’s defense from 1967 to 1972.

Wearing the Santos shirt, Ramos played 321 matches and scored just one goal, from the penalty spot, in a 2-1 victory over Alianza of San Salvador. In that match, interrupted because of heavy rain, he formed the center-back pairing with Djalma Dias.

Titles won with Santos

1967 – Campeonato Paulista; 1968 – Campeonato Paulista, Roberto Gomes Pedrosa Tournament (Brazilian Championship), South American Recopa and Intercontinental Recopa; 1969 – Campeonato Paulista

After leaving Santos, the Argentine-Brazilian still played for Portuguesa Santista. He then began a coaching career in Santos’s youth ranks, moving up to the professional team in 1977 and 1978. As head coach of the first team, he managed 26 matches, with 9 wins, 9 draws and 8 losses.

Back in the land of Tango

Back in Argentina, he coached 10 teams, including the giants River Plate and Estudiantes. He returned to lead Santos’s youth teams from 1994 to 2005, first under president Samir Abul-Hack and later under president Marcelo Teixeira. He graduated as a journalist and went on to work as a commentator on Argentine radio and television.

Carlos Alberto Prieto, “Gigi,” considered by many the best beach soccer player on the beaches of Santos, stated on his website “Gigi na Rede” that he nutmegged the Argentine Delgado on Gonzaga Beach when he played for Náutico alongside former coach Menotti against the Caravelas team.

Active Peixe council member Cássio Richter, one of the best friends Ramos Delgado had during his time coaching Peixe’s youth teams, says that his dear foreign friend loved the city of Santos, where he lived in the Gonzaga neighborhood with his late wife, Mrs. Telma Ester, and their daughters, Mariza, born in Argentina, and the Santos-born Ivana and Vanessa.

In 2006, Delgado returned to the land of tango to live with his wife. He passed away on December 3, 2010, at the age of 75, in Vila Eliza, near La Plata.

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