Before All Boys, Colón will relive its feat against Pelé's Santos | OneFootball

These continue to be very sensitive hours and days for the entire Colón world. Because the Sabalero always has its own “May Week”: first, the anniversary, which this time drew a huge crowd into the city streets, waiting for “Cacho” Deicas (a tremendous decision by the club directors to invite him), the fireworks, and midnight.

A celebration “required” by history

But beyond the May 4 vigil and the birthday celebration on the 5th, the month is always special because every May 10, the popular institution from Barrio Centenario remembers the feat and epic achievement of 1964, when “the humble Colón de Santa Fe ended Santos de Pelé’s unbeaten run,” considered the best team in the world at the time.

This time, as if everything were falling perfectly into place, May 10 is a Sunday and the match against All Boys is officially scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Elephant Graveyard. Therefore, the celebration will be a double one.

Specifically, “to mark the 62nd anniversary on Sunday of the victory over Santos de Pelé, the Culture, History and Museum Subcommittee, together with Colón’s Secretariat of Public and Human Relations, will hold a commemorative event before the match against All Boys.

“It will consist of a tribute, together with family members, to the players who achieved that unforgettable feat, as well as the display on the field of the trophy won in that match and which, in 2025, was recovered by the Subcommittee,” the popular Barrio Centenario institution reported.

On August 29, 2025, a report by El Litoral (Darío Pignata) was headlined: It returned to the club and is now in the Sabalero Museum… “The Cup Colón won from Pelé was in Governor Aldo Tessio’s possession”. It then explained:

“That match went down in world football history when humble Colón defeated mighty Santos of Brazil. Yesterday, Eladio Robbiati and Norma Madera, Aldo Tessio’s last life partner, donated that Cup to Colón’s Museum. An iconic moment.”

The article explained that “the iconic trophy the club won on May 10, 1964 against Pelé’s legendary Brazilian Santos team was recovered, the same trophy that gave birth to the mythical Elephant Graveyard.

Eladio Robbiati, who donated it, and Norma Madera, Aldo Tessio’s last life partner, were present. Also there were the families of ‘Beto’ Poncio, ‘Ploto’ Gómez, ‘Chengo’ Canteli, and Osvaldo Gras, the mascot in that match,” as Diego Meloni told El Litoral.

To reach that point, there was a whole explanation: “In recent times we had been saying that last year we recovered a Santos de Pelé ball from the 1964 tour; we had obtained original photos from that match.”

Everything kept being added to the Museum. “After a couple of long weeks of negotiations and talks, we were able to bring back home, after 54 years away, nothing less than the Cup, the trophy Colón won in the match against Santos de Pelé on May 10, 1964. It is that famous Cup in which ‘Beto’ Poncio can be seen lifting it after the match,” Diego recounted.

“The truth is that Aldo Tessio had it in his hands, and when he passed away, his wife, Norma Madera, who last week received us in her home to also give us Don Aldo’s lifetime membership card, decided to hand it over to Dr. Eladio Robbiati, a veterinarian close to the family.

“The Cup passed into Robbiati’s hands in 2006, and he kept it in his custody for 19 years.

“The idea was always to return it when the conditions were right; above all, when there were security guarantees so the trophy could return to the club and nothing would happen like what I was just talking about: one day someone grabs it and takes it home; or the Cup gets lost; or it is not given the value and historical rigor it needed,” Diego Meloni adds.

“This step involved a couple of weeks, with long talks to reach understandings and explain what we are doing from the Culture, History and Museum Subcommittee of Club Atlético Colón. In conclusion: on Tuesday the story ended with the signing of a public deed at a notary’s office, so we can understand a little of the seriousness with which this matter was handled.”

“The truth is that Aldo Tessio had it in his hands, and when he passed away, his wife, Norma Madera, who last week received us in her home to also give us Don Aldo’s lifetime membership card, decided to hand it over to Dr. Eladio Robbiati, a veterinarian close to the family. The Cup passed into Robbiati’s hands in 2006, and he kept it in his custody for 19 years.

“The idea was always to return it when the conditions were right; above all, when there were security guarantees so the trophy could return to the club and nothing would happen like what I was just talking about: one day someone grabs it and takes it home; or the Cup gets lost; or it is not given the value and historical rigor it needed,” Diego Meloni adds.

“This step involved a couple of weeks, with long talks to reach understandings and explain what we are doing from the Culture, History and Museum Subcommittee of Club Atlético Colón. In conclusion: on Tuesday the story ended with the signing of a public deed at a notary’s office, so we can understand a little of the seriousness with which this matter was handled.”

The story adds that Aldo Tessio had it in his hands and, when he passed away, his wife, Norma Madera, decided to hand it over to Dr. Eladio Robbiati, a veterinarian close to the family. The Cup passed into Robbiati’s hands in 2006, and he kept it in his custody for 19 years.

“The idea was always to return it when the conditions were right; above all, when there were security guarantees so the trophy could return to the club and nothing would happen like what I was just talking about: one day someone grabs it and takes it home; or the Cup gets lost; or it is not given the value and historical rigor it needed,” Meloni adds.

This beautiful story of footballing love will be reflected this Sunday, before 6 p.m. when Colón-All Boys kicks off at the Elephant Graveyard, with the fitting tribute to the feat against Pelé’s mythical Santos.

Juan Luis Pérez; Carlos Larpín, Juan Bareiro, Alberto Poncio and Ediberto Pérez (Ceballos); José Luis Broggi (Demetrio Gómez), Cilenio López, Luis Cabaña and Norberto Serenotti (García); Luis López and Fernando López.

All of them, together with coach José “Chengo” Canteli, went down in history, just like Ítalo Pedro Giménez, the president who (among other feats) was immortalized by the epic victory over Santos de Pelé.

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