Colón: How they reclaimed the Copa once held by Pelé’s Santos | OneFootball

Diego Meloni, a renowned historian and one of those responsible for recovering and valuing this trophy, spoke with ADN Gol and explained how the trophy was recovered.

Well, let's see, a bit about yesterday, you know that we have been talking for a long time about this matter of being stubborn, of being capricious, of being obstinate, of always wanting a little more in things, we were telling in recent times that we had recovered last year a ball that Santos Pelé brought on the tour of the year 64 that we had obtained original photos of that match. Well, everything that is added to the museum and yesterday we were lucky, fortunate after a couple of long weeks of negotiations, talks, back and forth to be able to bring back home after 54 years of absence nothing more and nothing less than the cup, the trophy that Colón won in the match against Santos on May 10, 1964, that famous cup in which Beto Poncio is seen lifting it after the match. So well, with great joy, with great satisfaction, well, with the emotion it generates because besides yesterday was the family of Ploto Gómez was the family of Beto Ponzio, he had been a mascot in that match, so well, the truth is that a very important day and for us to make this announcement and this discovery just two weeks after having laid the foundation stone of the museum in the club fills us with pride, we really swell with joy because this that you were saying at the beginning of how to tell things to the new generations well, we stop doing a simple recount and perhaps a theoretical and dialectical issue or all the transfer of reality to start to shade that history of the match with Santos with concrete, overwhelming elements, objects that allow us to understand a little more what that match meant for Colón and for the city of Santa Fe, right?

Well, look, I start from the beginning of what is the story of why the cup leaves the club and brothers, who passed it? because I tell you the truth it's like writing a book about this in 71 when Colón sells the headquarters of Casa de San Jerónimo you will remember that headquarters that ends up being sold to Don Emilio Carluz and that Colón loses part of its heritage well, what some leaders of the time did thinking about the possibility that the trophies could be lost or that they could be sold or that they could be stolen things that have been very characteristic over time in a huge number of institutions decide to entrust the trophy to Donaldo Otecio who had been governor of the province at the time of the match against Zafros and the governor of the province when Colón was also born in 1965 the leaders understood that someone of the stature of Donaldo Otecio was the right person to be able to guard until Colón could rebuild part of its social establishment well, the truth is that Donaldo Otecio had it in his hands when Donaldo Otecio dies his wife Norma Madera who also last week received us in the city of Santo Tomé in her house to also give us the lifetime membership card of Donaldo Otecio decides to give it to Dr. Eladio Robiatti, a veterinarian who was the family's veterinarian, the cup passed into Robiatti's hands in 2006 and for 19 years he had it in his custody they told us that the idea was always to return it when the material conditions and especially the security guarantees were given so that the trophy could return to the club and that something like what I was telling you earlier that one day someone would take it and take it to his house or that the cup would be lost or that it would not be given the value and the historical rigor it needed well, this involved a couple of long weeks of talks, understandings, explaining a little what we were doing from the subcommittee and on Tuesday the story ended with the signing of a public deed in a notary's office, I say, so that we understand a little the seriousness that was given to this matter and what you were asking me earlier there are some photographic documents there are images even when José Benseñor who was treasurer of that commission had it in his hands when Beto Pozo was lifting it there are some photos in some newspapers of the time so it has allowed us to quickly contact and also the cup carries an inscription also so marked that attests that it is indeed the trophy that Colón obtained that year yes, in a very synthetic way yes, it's good, it's good it's good a book of many chapters, I tell you

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