Leônidas' debut for Tricolor | OneFootball

The Historical Archive recalls the Black Diamond’s first match for the Tricolor, played on May 24, 1942, against Corinthians.

THE PREPARATION

After the unforgettable welcome he received from the fans on April 10, 1942, Leônidas had a lot of work ahead of him to get back into playing condition. Director Roberto Gomes Pedroza had hired, shortly after the idol’s arrival (on the 14th), the Uruguayan Conrado Ross as the team’s coach. The Tricolor board, in fact, put together a whole new technical staff, overhauling the medical department, promoting lectures and scientific contests, and even hiring a nutritionist, something still unheard of among football clubs in Brazil at the time.

Sergeant Ariston de Oliveira was in charge of the players’ physical preparation. In January 1942, Ariston had in fact established a set of strict rules as the season’s work plan, with guidelines regulating training, lodging, medical resources, hygiene, discipline, socio-educational measures regarding smoking and drinking, and even extra pay according to performance in activities outside matches.

The novelty and investment were justified because Leônidas, as was to be expected (despite the speeches), was out of shape and far from ready to make his debut for the club so soon. The staff then prepared a schedule, a goals plan, and a special diet to restore the athlete’s fitness so that he could debut from the second half of May onward. For more than a month, the star went through intense conditioning, which even included training in heavy wool garments and a controlled diet closely supervised.

On April 14, Feola led the team for the last time before Ross took over (the Uruguayan still needed clearance from the National Sports Council – CND – to work, as he was a foreigner), and the Tricolor thrashed SP Railway 6–1. Before the match began, Leônidas was officially introduced to the São Paulo fans at Pacaembu Stadium.

After a quick trip to Rio de Janeiro (he needed to settle his last matters there and bring his family to São Paulo), Leônidas held his first training session with the Tricolor on the 23rd, at the Municipal, under Conrado Ross, who was likewise making his debut. The activity for the star was individual, consisting only of light exercise.

At that moment, Leônidas weighed 71 kilos and wanted to lose six. The coaching staff, on the other hand, was aiming for him to reach 66 or 67. Since the player was 1.65 meters tall, his body mass index did in fact indicate excess weight (BMI of 26.07).

Also present at that training session was Waldemar de Brito, who returned to the Tricolor after eight years (and who had been an attacking partner of the “Black Diamond” on the Brazilian National Team in 1934 and at Flamengo between 1938 and 1939); Doutor, a goalkeeper acquired from Ypiranga; and Pardal, a winger signed from Pelotas, in Rio Grande do Sul, at the end of 1941. The three were the club’s other major bets for the season.

However, before long, Leônidas’s physical shape and diet began drawing attention and becoming the target of jokes from rivals and the press. With only two daily exercises completed by the player up to that point, the newspaper O Esporte, on April 25, joked about the athlete’s “forced” diet: “A device for capturing thought waves recorded the phrase Leônidas did not say: ‘I just want to eat this lard.’”

Leônidas really suffered quite a bit to readjust and regain match fitness, but he managed it. By May 7 he was already capable of carrying the reserve team on his “back” in clashes against the starters (on that occasion, a 2–2 draw, with both goals scored by him). From that date on, in fact, the idol could have developed better chemistry with the squad by playing in smaller matches.

The club even invited Atlético Paranaense for a friendly on May 13, but everyone involved wanted to show right away that Leônidas was fully fit, and nothing was better than a derby to remove any lingering doubts or suspicions about the athlete’s quality and commitment. The friendly was thus canceled on the 10th, and the Paraná team, so as not to waste the trip, ended up facing Ypiranga at Pacaembu.

With the cancellation, expectations rose that Leônidas would make his debut in the next match, scheduled in the Campeonato Paulista table for Sunday, May 24, against Corinthians. After the collective training session on the Thursday afternoon before that game, São Paulo’s coaching staff informed the press that yes, at last, the striker would play his first match in the Tricolor shirt in the derby!

THE PRE-MATCH ATMOSPHERE

It did not take much publicity for the best tickets available to the public for the match at the Municipal to sell out in no time. It is also striking that even in 1942, a common problem that plagues the areas around stadiums today was already happening and causing astonishment and outrage: ticket scalping. With the imminent match of the decade, the long-awaited debut of Leônidas in a “São Paulo versus Corinthians” derby at Pacaembu, ticket scalping reached its peak.

“The interest that the São Paulo-Corinthians match has been arousing and Leônidas’s debut have had the effect of stirring up our football enthusiasts, and this at once drew the attention of ticket agents and scalpers, who organized a perfect ‘trust,’ perhaps with the collaboration of some prestigious figure in sporting circles.

“What was most astounding was not the activity of the scalpers and the greed shown in the markup with which they enriched themselves from reselling the tickets, but the incredible speed with which they acted, acquiring, in less than an hour, at several points, the entire stock put on sale.

“And once the stadium was sold out, the scalpers, in an orgy of unchecked profiteering, raised the prices of seats up to tenfold when offering them to the public…

“Profiteering in the sale of football ground tickets goes back a long way, since the days of ‘brown amateurism,’ without advisable measures ever having been taken to extirpate this cancer.”

If neither the event organizers nor the public authorities foresaw or reversed this serious situation, it is also reasonable to imagine that they would have trouble with the great influx of people to Pacaembu, with tickets or without them, hours before the contest began.

Knowing the stadium would be overcrowded, the Municipal Board, the São Paulo Federation, and the Public Force issued a joint statement to the press warning that “in order to make it possible to accommodate the greater attendance expected for today’s sporting spectacle, in the general admission and in the section of the terraces where there are still no benches, spectators must remain standing throughout the course of the match.”

On the day of the game there were still tickets for sale. Two ticket windows for the stands and two for general admission, intended for club members, were opened at 8:30 a.m. on Pacaembu Avenue. As Corinthians was the home team, the rival was entitled to a free social allotment, intended for club members whose internal obligations were up to date, according to the rules of the time. São Paulo members, as supporters of the visiting team, were charged the normal ticket prices.

At 10 o’clock, the remaining ticket windows at the Municipal were opened to the general public, with the following prices by ticket type (80,000 were produced and put on sale):

Stands– Regular: 5$000 (five thousand réis);– Children, ladies, and military personnel: 2$000 (two thousand réis);

General admission– Regular: 3$000 (three thousand réis);– Children, ladies, and military personnel: 1$000 (one thousand réis);

The only section “sold out” days before the match was the numbered seat section, which cost 20$000 (twenty thousand réis), but which, shortly before the stadium gates closed, reached 200$000 (two hundred thousand réis) in the hands of street scalpers, with the “unwary” buyer also bearing the risk that those tickets might be fake. There had been talk of installing seats in front of the stadium’s acoustic shell for the occasion, but the idea was dropped as unfeasible.

As expected, in the first hours of the morning Pacaembu was already bustling with people everywhere. It was not uncommon for some to take advantage of the good weather to have a snack and even a picnic right there. At 10 o’clock the Municipal gates were opened for the supporters to enter, and the movement swelled between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Records state that by around 1 p.m. it was already practically impossible to find a good place to watch the game, scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m.

The crowd waiting for the match entertained itself with preliminaries while the main contest was still some time away. At 11:30 a.m., Corinthians’s and São Paulo’s amateur teams faced each other, and the black-and-whites won 3–2. Two hours later, it was the turn of a professional Campeonato Paulista clash between Comercial, from the capital, and Espanha, from Santos, which ended in a 4–2 victory for the former.

As time passed, space vanished. Pacaembu was full an hour and a half before the contest began, and the gates were closed. “The only thing missing was someone climbing up to the statue of the Olympic athlete, although even the pedestal had also been taken!” The then-empty hills around the stadium were also packed with people, although it is not known whether it was possible to see anything from there.

The home team took the field dressed entirely in black. São Paulo, after being welcomed with a shower of confetti and streamers by Grêmio Sampaulino, lined up in its traditional kit: white shirt and shorts with the tricolor stripes, and predominantly black socks. Before the ball rolled, the São Paulo players paid tribute to Porphyrio da Paz, who had been promoted from lieutenant to captain.

LEÔNIDAS ON THE FIELD

At 3:50 p.m., referee Jorge Gomes de Lima, Joreca (who would become the Tricolor’s coach the following year), blew the whistle and Leônidas made the first touch on the ball, starting the match.

The São Paulo side selected by Conrado Ross took the field with Doutor in goal; Fiorotti and Virgílio in defense; Záclis, Lola, and Silva in midfield; and an attack formed by Luizinho, Waldemar de Brito, Leônidas, Teixeirinha, and Pardal.

The match was fiercely contested and lively, and it was Corinthians who went ahead on the scoreboard, just ten minutes into the game, with a goal by Jerônimo, thanks to a rebound given up by goalkeeper Doutor. The opponent kept pressing in attack, forcing São Paulo’s defense to repel the advances as best they could. The Tricolor’s first attacking moves came through Luizinho, in combinations with Leônidas, but the new center-forward, always closely marked by Brandão, could not pull off the feats everyone expected.

Until, at the 30-minute mark, Leônidas found space to tip the balance of the match: Luizinho took a corner, the “Black Diamond” headed it on, and the ball fell to Lola at the edge of the box, who picked his spot and struck it perfectly into the goal to score São Paulo’s first goal of the game. 1–1 on the scoreboard, which stood at the end of the first half.

In the second half, Corinthians found a goal just three minutes in, through Servílio, but the tricolors did not lose heart. At the 15-minute mark, Leônidas, tightly marked, started a move with Pardal inside the penalty area. That attacker quickly returned the ball to the “Black Magic,” who feinted a dribble but struck hard at goal with the little space he had. Corinthians midfielder Dino intercepted him, deflecting the ball for a corner. From that set piece, Pardal found Luizinho by the post. The forward made no mistake and, with a header, bulged the net: 2–2 on the scoreboard!

“The stadium erupts once again.”

With the equalizer, the match became heated again, and both teams pushed forward, taking risks at the back. For the Tricolor, the standout moves came from the interplay between Leônidas and Pardal, who missed some chances. After so much pressure, São Paulo’s forward line broke through the rival blockade at the 36-minute mark: Luizinho broke down the right wing and found the “Rubber Man” through the middle. The star controlled the ball, lifted his head, picked his spot, and shot accurately, but goalkeeper Joel managed to reach it without gathering it. Bouncing in the six-yard box, the ball found winger Teixeirinha’s feet, and he had no difficulty whatsoever in turning the game in São Paulo’s favor! 3–2 at Pacaembu!

“The Tricolor faithful go wild.”

Despite the lead on the scoreboard, the São Paulo side was weakened on the field. With a little under ten minutes left in the game, forward Waldemar de Brito was injured and had to leave the match (at the time, substitutions were not allowed in championship games). Under heavy pressure, São Paulo’s back line could not withstand Corinthians’s attack. At the 43-minute mark, after a mistimed play by Doutor and Fiorotti, the ball fell to Servílio, who headed it in and, once again, scored for the opponent. 3–3 in the match.

The final minutes were dramatic because of the number of players on the field and the physical disadvantage that situation created. To make matters worse, referee Joreca added five and a half minutes of stoppage time. Even so, the final chances to score fell to the Tricolor, with Pardal and Leônidas denied at the decisive moment. And that was that.

May 24, 1942. Campeonato PaulistaSão Paulo (SP), São Paulo Municipal Stadium – PacaebuSport Club CORINTHIANS Paulista 3 x 3 SÃO PAULO Futebol Clube

SPFC: Doutor; Fiorotti and Virgílio; Waldemar Zaclis, Lola, and Silva; Luizinho, Waldemar de Brito, Leônidas, Teixeirinha, and Pardal. Captain: Fiorotti. Coach: Conrado Ross. Goals: Lola, 30/1; Luizinho, 15/2; Teixeirinha, 36/2

SCCP: Joel; Agostinho and Chico Preto; Jango, Brandão, and Dino; Jerônimo, Milani, Servílio, Eduardinho, and Hércules. Coach: Rato. Goals: Jerônimo, 10/1; Servílio, 3/2; Servílio, 43/2

Referee: Jorge Gomes de Lima “Joreca”Revenue: Rs 244:414$000Attendance: 71,281 paid

POST-MATCH

The Municipal Stadium, which had been packed with more than 70,000 people, then gradually emptied in the night’s half-light, with the throng of supporters leaving without clashes or confusion. The massive attendance set a record:

“Here is the human anthill that Pacaembu Stadium seemed to be […]. More than 70,000 people watched the contest between Corinthians and São Paulo F.C., that is, the largest attendance ever recorded at football matches held in Brazil.”

The number of people present at the clash on that May 24 also remains the highest attendance at Pacaembu Stadium to this day. The gross box-office revenue, also a national record, reached 244:414$000 (two hundred and forty-four contos and four hundred and fourteen thousand réis), and the net revenue, 151:857$500 (one hundred and fifty-one contos and eight hundred and fifty-seven thousand and five hundred réis), was to be divided equally between the two clubs.

Thus, with just one match, São Paulo collected 38% (75:928$700 – seventy-five contos and nine hundred and twenty-eight thousand and seven hundred réis) of what it had invested in signing Leônidas da Silva: 200:000$000 (two hundred contos de réis).

Despite Leônidas’s good debut, in terms of movement and involvement in goals (he was important in creating all three!), part of the press condemned the star’s performance and signing. Quickly, the headline from the tabloid A Hora spread through the city, declaring in capital letters that the striker was a “200-contos streetcar” and that, because of that, the Tricolor had been duped and fallen for a sort of scam. Rival supporters also wasted no time, joking and satirizing that if Leônidas was a black diamond, it had been stolen and found in the pocket of Brandão, Corinthians’s defender.

The newspaper O Esporte, meanwhile, reasoned that Leônidas should have been “the phenomenon, the magician of the ‘pitch,’ the fakir who would swallow the ball in order to deposit it in Joel’s net, like the host with which one would take communion alongside the crowd,” but that he was, in reality, only “a good player.” However, it also saw some other positive attributes:

“Leônidas was brave as few are. He exposed his legs to be assaulted by kicks and, had Brandão not been a master footballer but rather a butcher-footballer, yesterday the butcher shops would also have had ‘Leônidas’s legs’ for sale. Leônidas fought, insisted, tried to be useful. He simply did not do everything that can be expected from 200 contos.”

This general reaction upset Leônidas so deeply that he kept a profound resentment within himself, promising that he would never again be questioned over a match against that rival. In his own words: “If, on the one hand, those criticisms hit me, they certainly served as even greater stimulus, touching my pride as an athlete and as a man and making me react in order to prove the unbelievers wrong and justify the trust of those who had signed me.”

And so it was! Until he retired from the pitches, Leônidas went on to play 19 more derbies against Corinthians, coming out victorious in ten, drawing four others, and scoring 11 goals!

On the Monday after the game, another noteworthy highlight came from the newspaper A Gazeta Esportiva, which printed on its front page the headline “Majestic Clash!”, referring to the match because either team could have won that contest, played with gallantry, competitiveness, and comebacks on the scoreboard. It is worth noting that this was the first time the São Paulo-Corinthians matchup was referred to in this way.

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