The day Boca Juniors played a Libertadores match with the Milan shirt and took it off to change their luck

The first participation of Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores, previously called the “Cup of Champions of America” ​​(since it was disputed only by the winners of each country’s tournament) it had several peculiarities. One of the most notable was in the third presentation of the Ribera team, which was registered in the Bombonera: during the first half of the duel against the University of Chile, the owner of the house used a Milan shirt from Italy to avoid the confusion of colors with the rival clothing.

It was on Wednesday, June 26, 1963 for the third day of Group 3 of the Cup, in which Boca finished as the leader ahead of Olimpia from Paraguay and the trans-Andean team. The Peruvian referee Arturo Yamasaki Maldonado ordered the visitors to change the jersey, who had only brought the blue starting game to Buenos Aires. the jacket xeneizewith a predominance of blue, blended in with that of his adversary, so the props went through the locker room trunks and found the shirts that the Italians had given them the previous year.

In the year 62, Boca and Milan had organized friendlies in Buenos Aires and Milanese territory, at which time they celebrated the transfer of the Peruvian midfielder Victor Rabbit Benitez Morales. Despite the fact that the Italians wore their alternative white clothing both in the 3-2 win against Boca in the candy box as in the 2-2 draw played at the stadium Giuseppe Meazzathe Rossoneri directors gave their Argentine peers the title game.

The chronicles of that match between Boca and the “U” of Chile tell that the local played so badly that they chose to change their luck with another shirt in the supplement: “With the one from Milan, very bad. With the yellow, almost very well ”was the title of an article published by the magazine The graphic. Rummaging around in the corners of La Bombonera they found some yellow shirts that served as alternative kits and thus the players jumped onto the playing field to face the second half. Alberto gonzalito Gonzálezafter 2 minutes, scored the 1-0 goal that would be final.

“As the University of Chile jersey is blue, Boca was forced to change its usual colors in the first match of the Coap Libertadores de América to avoid confusion. The Boquenses came out to play the first half with the ‘rossonera’ jacket from Milan. They played very bad. They did not finish the stage at a disadvantage because the trans-Andean team, better prepared as a team in terms of order and game plan, failed in clear situations to convert against the fence of Rome “recounted the chronicle of the match in The graphic.

The great disappointment of that first half was due to the expectation generated by the team that started being led by José D’Amico, had the interim Arcadio López and ended with Aristóbulo Deambrossi, under the sports management of Adolfo Pedernera. Boca had been Argentine champion in 1962, lost in Asunción against Olimpia in its debut and then thrashed the Guarani 5-3 on the second date. It was imperative to win at home to aspire to first place in the area, which granted a place in the semifinals of a contest that had included the participation of San Lorenzo (1960), Independiente (1961) and Racing (1962).

Scaring away the superstitious, in the sports magazine they highlighted the change of Carmelo Simeone por Julio Novarini as the key to Boca’s attitude change: “For the second half, the home owners changed colors: they wore a yellow shirt with bright blue, more in keeping with the traditional xeneize currency. His game raised a lot. Boca was more the Argentine soccer champion than his fans want to see play well and win often. The difference between one and the other Boca cannot be attributed solely to the change of jackets. That explanation is for cabalists. It is more logical for us to investigate the reason for the rebound in Boca on technical-tactical grounds. Mouth was one thing while Novarini played. And a very different one after the departure of Novarini ”.

The Chileans had four clear scoring situations throughout the first half. In the second half they looked exhausted and barely created a chance that was neutralized between the goalkeeper Antonio Roma and Antonio Rattin, over the line. There was praise for Rattín’s performance and criticism for Novarini’s 39-minute game, which they branded as violent. “Not being on the pitch, the temperamental player from La Plata, Boca, fixed his defensive problems”was the comment that preceded the list of five points in which they described how Novarini’s departure from the pitch had a positive impact.

On offense, they praised Sanfilippo and questioned the performances of Menéndez, Rojitas, gonzalito (author of the goal) and Oreste Corbatta. In the plugin, “Their men dressed in yellow this time seemed very different from those of the first half, when they wore the Milan jersey”they remarked.

The review of The graphic He left a hopeful message for the Boquenses fans: “With what was shown by Boca in his second half of Wednesday’s game – accepting that the rival shrunk, as if he had burned all his cartridges in the first half of the fight – there is a good basis to think of a favorable future for the 1962 champion. Here, in the AFA tournament, and in the fights for the Copa Libertadores de América”.

After that, Boca had one last commitment in Chile against the University. A draw was enough to access the next phase, but they triumphed 3-2 with a hat trick from José Sanfilippo, who was also sent off. He xeneize defeated Peñarol de Montevideo both in the first leg and in the rematch and qualified for the remembered final that he played against Pelé’s Santos. The Brazilians exhibited all their might and the Boquenses had no choice but to bow before O Rei.

Paradoxically, that Santos who had Edson Arantes do Nascimento as a great figure faced the Milan by the Intercontinental: the Italians prevailed 4-2 in San Siro, the paulistas did the same with the same result in the Maracanã and, in the tiebreaker played in the mythical stadium of Rio de Janeiro, the South Americans tipped the balance in their favor with the 1-0 achieved by Dalmo.

Formations:

Boca: Anthony Rome; Edson dos Santos, Silvio Marzolini; Orlando Pecanha de Carvalho, Julio Novarini (39′ PT Carmelo Simeone), Antonio Rattin; East Corbatta, Angel Rojas, Norberto Menendez, Jose Sanfilippo and Alberto Gonzalez. DT: Arcadio Julio Lopez

U de Chile: René Pacheco; Sergio Navarro, Humberto Donoso; Hugo Villanueva, Carlos Contreras, Jose Moris; Osvaldo Rojas, Ernesto Álvarez, Carlos Campos, Rubén Marcos and Alfonso Sepúlveda. DT: Luis Alamos

Gol: Alberto González at 2′ ST

Referee: Arturo Yamasaki Maldonado (Peru)

Date: 26-6-63

Collection: $1.646.040

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