Santos FC win the Tournoi de Paris for the first time | OneFootball

Gabriel Pierin, from the Memory Center

June 9 marks a special date in the history of Santos Futebol Clube. On a Thursday in 1960, the team from Vila Belmiro defeated Racing de Paris 4–1 at the Parc des Princes and won the prestigious Paris Tournament for the first time.

A traditional preseason event on the European calendar, the tournament brought together teams of major international stature. The 1960 edition featured Santos, French sides Stade de Reims and Racing de Paris, as well as CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria.

Santos’s campaign began two days earlier, on June 7, against the mighty Stade de Reims. French champions in the 1959/60 season, European runners-up in 1958/59, and the backbone of the French national team that reached the semifinals of the 1958 World Cup, the club featured names such as Dominique Colonna, Robert Jonquet, Jean Vincent, Raymond Kopa, and Roger Piantoni.

The French favoritism did not last long. After just one minute, Coutinho opened the scoring. In the fifth minute, Pelé produced one of the most spectacular plays of his career. After dribbling past five opponents in succession, he finished with class to score Santos’s second goal, drawing applause from the French crowd.

Stade responded with two goals from Piantoni, but Coutinho found the net again and Santos went into halftime leading 3–2. In the second half, Piantoni completed his hat-trick and equalized in front of a packed Parc des Princes. Santos responded in the 19th minute, once again through Coutinho. In the 38th minute, Pepe sealed the 5–3 win and secured a place in the final.

The final was played on the night of June 9 before around 40,000 spectators. The opponent was Racing de Paris, who had knocked out CSKA Sofia with a 2–0 win.

Santos took the field with Laércio; Calvet (Getúlio), Mauro and Zé Carlos; Formiga and Zito; Dorval, Mengálvio, Coutinho, Pelé and Pepe (Tite). Racing lined up with Tailander; Tibari (Guillot), Lelong and Marche; Marcel and Herbin; Grillet, Tocna, Ujlaki, Senac and Heutte.

In the opening minutes, the French side applied heavy pressure. Laércio was forced into several saves and even needed medical attention after colliding with an opposing forward. The stoppage cooled Racing’s momentum and allowed Santos to take control of the match.

In the 23rd minute, Coutinho struck a beautiful long-range shot into the top-right corner to open the scoring. Shortly afterward, rain began to fall over Paris, making the pitch heavier and passing more difficult. Even so, Santos held onto the lead until halftime.

In the second half, Santos’s technical superiority became even more evident. In the ninth minute, Pelé combined with Coutinho and made it 2–0. In the 21st, the King started a brilliant move by nutmegging his marker before setting up Pepe, who fired a low shot to score the third goal.

Racing pulled one back in the 28th minute through Ujlaki, following a free kick by Guillot. The reaction, however, was not enough. In the 43rd minute, Coutinho appeared again. After helping build the play with Pelé, he received the ball in the box and struck powerfully between three defenders to seal Santos’s 4–1 victory.

Less than a year after its first European tour, Santos returned to the continent to confirm its growing international reputation. Winning the Paris Tournament reinforced the image of a team that was already enchanting the world and that, for many observers, was the best on the planet — official recognition that would come two years later with the world titles of 1962 and 1963.

The campaign also highlighted the extraordinary youth of that forward line. Top scorer of the tournament with five goals, Coutinho would turn just 17 two days after the final. Pelé was 19. Pepe, considered the veteran of the attacking trio, was only 25. Together, they led one of the most memorable international triumphs in Santos’s history.

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