Toninho, a true gladiator of Vila | OneFootball

Guilherme Guarche, from the Memory Center

On August 10, 1942, a Monday, Antônio Ferreira was born in Bauru, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, 326 km from the capital, a city also known as “The city without limits” — or, as he became better known in the football world, “Toninho Guerreiro.”

A gritty center-forward with a nose for goal, he became the fourth-highest scorer in Santos history. Toninho earned the nickname within the Santos squad itself because of his determination whenever he wore the Alvinegro Praiano shirt.

The first time he played for the coastal team, coming from Noroeste de Bauru at just 18 years old together with right winger Batista, was on February 16, 1963, in a 2-2 draw with Vasco da Gama at the Maracanã in the Rio-São Paulo Tournament, with two goals from King Pelé. Santos lined up with: Gilmar, Dalmo, Mauro and Zé Carlos (Tite); Calvet and Lima; Dorval, Mengálvio, Pagão (Toninho), Pelé and Pepe. The coach was Luiz Alonso Perez, Lula.

On that debut, something worthy of note happened because, according to the Rio press, this was the match in which the “coffee ace” picked up the ball after scoring the equalizer and handed it to defender Fontana, saying: “Take it to your mother as a gift, tell her it was sent by the King.”

Toninho Guerreiro’s last match for Santos was on June 24, 1969, when he scored his final goal for Alvinegro — the goal that gave Santos the World Recopa title in a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan at the San Siro Stadium.

The gritty Toninho Guerreiro was transferred for 800,000 new cruzeiros to São Paulo FC. Wearing the Peixe shirt, Toninho played from 1963 to 1969, making 368 appearances and scoring 279 goals.

With Peixe he won the following titles: World Champion in 1963 – Copa Libertadores champion in 1963 – Brazilian champion in 1964/1965 and 1968 – Rio-São Paulo Tournament champion in 1963/1964 and 1966 – Paulista champion in 1964/1965/1967/1968 and 1969 – South American Recopa and World Recopa champion in 1968.

Toninho Guerreiro was the top scorer of the Paulista Championship in 1966 with 27 goals, ending a run by King Pelé, who had been the competition’s top scorer every year since 1957.

In 1970 and 1972, the brave player was once again the top scorer in the Paulista, this time playing for Tricolor do Morumbi. In the Santos squad, Toninho Guerreiro also had the nickname Meméia.

Toninho, the unforgettable Santos goalscorer, passed away on January 26, 1990, in the city of São Paulo.

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