Santos 1968

The 1968 Santos was one of the formations from the final phase of Pelé's generation at Vila Belmiro. The team was São Paulo State champion and winner of the Roberto Gomes Pedrosa Tournament that year, with players such as Pelé, Carlos Alberto Torres, Clodoaldo and Gilmar.

History

Founded on April 14, 1912, Santos reached 1968 as one of the most respected clubs in the world. Shortly before, the team had conquered the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup in 1962 and 1963, and Pelé remained the great star of the squad. In 1968, the Fish won the São Paulo Championship, in a sequence of state titles that also included 1967 and 1969. That year, the club also won the Roberto Gomes Pedrosa Tournament, the Robertão, a national competition that preceded the current format of the Brazilian Championship. The squad mixed experience and youth. Pelé led the attack, Gilmar still defended the goal, and Carlos Alberto Torres and Clodoaldo gained space in the team that, a few years later, would form the foundation of the Brazilian National Team, which won the World Cup and became three-time world champions in 1970. The cycle of that generation had its symbolic moment on November 19, 1969, when Pelé scored his thousandth career goal from the penalty spot against Vasco at the Maracanã. The 1968 Santos represents the period in which the club still sustained, with Pelé, the hegemony built in the previous decade.