As I was growing up in São Paulo, Brazil, I always heard how incredible the Santos team was. The great attack formed by Dorval, Mengálvio, Coutinho, Pelé and Pepe was really unstoppable. The only one I really had a chance to see in action was Pelé. And boy was he ahead of his times. I remember a game against Palmeiras where he tapped the ball for about 40 yards through an ocean of defenders and almost scored on a volley.
My dad had a very funny incident with Pelé in Santos when we were there on vacations at my Grandmother's house. As he backed the car out of the driveway and got out to close the gate (yes a manual gate)he heard a thud and turned. Someone had bumped into his car. The driver? Pelé. Below was the result of that encounter, Pelé's autograph dated July 31, 1964.
I am a Santos fanatic. I watch every game I can even living in the US. In the past 10 years with so much investment in their academy program Santos became a powerhouse again. The likes of Robinho, Elano, Diego and Alex Costa are all famous now. Neymar and Ganso are the current greats of this team, the first 19 and the second 21 years old. Santos won national championships in 2002 and 2004, state championships in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011 and the Brazilian Cup in 2010 which qualified them for the continental competition called the Libertadores.
The only championships I hadn't seen them win until now was the Copa Libertadores and the Club World Cup. This past Wednesday, June 22nd they played a great game against Uruguayan powerhouse Penarol, defeating them 2-1 and taking the Libertadores Cup. This win qualifies them to go to the Club World Cup which will be played in Tokyo next December. I can't wait to see Santos versus the great Barcelona. Neymar, the new kid on the block, versus Messi the current best player in the world. Ganso versus Xavi, two of best midfielders in the world in my humble opinion. This will be a fantastic game providing both clubs win their semifinals.
There are 6 clubs who are winners of their continental cups. The European and South American champions (Barcelona and Santos) automatically start the competition in the semifinals. So to win the championship they need to win 2 games. The remaining 4 teams have to play quarter-final games so for them the journey to the championship is 3 games. This is because none of the other continents has ever won the club World Cup.
I am looking forward to this game. Be on the lookout for Neymar and Ganso. Together in a little over a year they have won 4 championships for Santos F.C. and now they are starters in the Brazilian national team that will be playing the National Team South American Championship this coming July hosted by Argentina.
Below are game highlights:
Just as an addition to this post, there are currently 21 Santos Athletes defending Brazilian National teams. In the man's main team there are 3, in the sub-21 preparing for the World Cup there are 4, in the Women's team there are 7 players, one in the Sub-17 currently playing in the World Cup for the that age group and finally 6 in the man's Futsal National team. No other club in Brazil has ever achieved this.
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