The masterpiece at Rua Javari | OneFootball

Guilherme Guarche, Memory Center

La Gioconda, or Mona Lisa del Giocondo, is Leonardo da Vinci’s most remarkable and best-known painting, and he was one of the most eminent figures of the Italian Renaissance. Just like that famous work of art by the brilliant Renaissance painter, we can regard the goal scored by King Pelé, at Rua Javari, 117, on August 2, 1959, as an immortal masterpiece of football.

This goal, considered the most beautiful of King Pelé’s career, came on a distant Sunday at the modest Conde Rodolfo Crespi Stadium, in the Mooca neighborhood, on the east side of the city of São Paulo, home of Clube Atlético Juventus, popularly known as the Moleque Travesso.

It happened in Santos’s 4–0 victory over the home side, in a match valid for the 1959 Paulista Championship. In addition to the beautiful goal, Pelé also scored two more, while the other was netted by right winger Dorval Rodrigues.

The Peixe lineup, selected by Luiz Alonso Perez, in the 1,693rd match of its history, was: Manga; Mourão and Pavão; Formiga, Ramiro and Zito; Dorval, Jair Rosa Pinto, Coutinho, Pelé and Pepe. With the third goal scored by Pelé, the Alvinegro had reached 4,647 goals up to that date.

The strike, which now turns 67 years old, was goal number 200 among the 1,282 goals scored by the King solely in matches for Santos’s main team. This jewel of a goal was the King’s last in that memorable match. Altogether, at Rua Javari, The Athlete of the Century scored nine goals wearing the Santos shirt.

After scoring, Pelé ran toward the opposing fans, who had taunted him during the match, and celebrated by jumping and punching the air in an outburst directed at those who had jeered him. From then on, that gesture would become his trademark way of celebrating the goals he scored.

The King’s work of art through the eyes of the journalists at A Tribuna

The goal as described by journalist De Vaney:

“In the chapter of masterful goals, the one Pelé scored on Sunday at Rua Javari deserves special emphasis. There are plays which, because of their technical beauty, remain engraved in our eyes when we return home.

This one, Pelé’s, Santos F. Clube’s 4th against Juventus, is the goal that became fixed in the soul, in the spirit, in the heart, in the whole feeling of whoever saw it emerge amid two twilights: that of the day, gradually ending, and that of the match, slowly fading away.

I have seen goals, magnificent ones, more than half a hundred of them. I saw Friendereich, cunning personified, bring down the Uruguayans of 1919 with that historic goal that gave Brazil its first title.

I saw Nilo Murtinho Braga, a hurricane in human form, shake Argentine nets in golden afternoon matches. I saw Feitiço, dry gunpowder in each boot, tear apart Scottish nets with four blasts on the day Motherwell fell 5–0.

I saw Leônidas da Silva, all rubber, devastate Polish goals with stupendous creations worthy of the magic contained in his feet. I saw Heleno de Freitas, an offense in every shot, shatter unbeatable strongholds in decisive contests.

I saw Carvalho Leite, a steel-breaker in every strike, defeat famous keepers with devastating shots. I saw Petronilho de Brito, a poem in every move, hide the ball at the back of the enemy net like a boy playing tag.

I have seen goals of every kind, from the one that explodes at the back of the rectangle like a cannon bomb, to the one that sizzles against the waxed strings like expensive oil in a golden frying pan. But a goal like the one Pelé gave the football world on Sunday in Mooca, I believe no one has ever seen anything like it until today. Pelé’s goal even brought to mind the anecdote of the man who, after staring for a long time at the giraffe in the zoo, remarked: ‘That doesn’t exist.’”

Journalist Ari Fortes described the move like this:

“In the 42nd minute came PELÉ’s jewel of a goal, which thrilled the large crowd. In a move by Dorval and Coutinho, the ball came to the ‘scrathman,’ who, in one of his characteristic plays, chipped it over Homero, collecting the ball ahead of him.

Clóvis intervened and was also beaten by the same touch. Finally, goalkeeper Mão de Onça came off his line and Pelé likewise chipped him, leaving the goal completely open before him. Before any other Juventus defender could arrive, the Santos forward leaned his body slightly forward and, with a subtle header, sent the ball into the net.

A truly spectacular play, which, as has been said, earned its author congratulations from several members of the opposing side itself, as well as mass applause from the entire stadium! After a move of such exquisite conception, nothing else of note could be expected in the final three minutes. And the contest ended 4–0 in favor of Santos.”

Lima, the joker of Vila, was one of the defenders on the Moleque Travesso team. His excellent performance in that match would bring him to the Peixe in 1961, and he would become renowned as part of the side that dazzled the world in the 1960s.

On August 29, 2006, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, invited by the Juventus board under president Armando Raucci, appeared at Rodolfo Crespi Stadium and inaugurated a bust in his honor on the premises, since it was there that the King scored the most beautiful goal of his career. A fine initiative by the directors of the Moleque Travesso.

This famous “Rua Javari Goal,” scored by Pelé in 1959 and never filmed, was recreated this year by artificial intelligence in a partnership between Google DeepMind and Pelé Brand. The recreation of the historic play is now part of the collection of the Pelé Museum in Santos.

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