COLOMBIA

Referee Carlos Nai Foino counted the
twelve steps as it was done at that time,
while The Candy-Box was undergoing a
moment of topmost tension that was
prolonged all over Argentina through the
sound of the radio that did no accept any
distraction. On 9 December 1962, the superderby
was the preamble to the title, when only
one champion was consecrated at the end of
every year. Boca was winning 1-0 and the
match was ended, but Brazilian Delem’s shot
might have created a tie, placing River at the
top of the table. Antonio Roma gave two
steps forward turning to the right and stopped
the shot. The enthusiastic shouting of the
spectators almost covered up the reports
of José María Muñoz, Alfredo Curcu or
Fioravanti, that were traveling all over the
map. “Catch it Romaaaa, which he did and
the public invaded the pitch”, described the
people’s madness as they jumped the wire
fence to celebrate.
Captain Antonio Ubaldo Rattin evoked
that moment as follows: “I always remember
the penalty when all River’s players demanded
Nai Fono” and he said, “A well-kicked penalty
is a goal”. We had an advantage of one point
and the following Sunday, we won the
championship.
The great goalkeeper was rendered a
special homage in 2012 to celebrate the half
century elapsed after that famous goal. He
was very well at 80 years of age, happy to
have a photograph taken in the goal of his
El homenaje a los 50 años de la conquista del título de 1962.
El presidente de Boca, Daniel Angelici, le entrega la placa.
Homage rendered to the 50 years of the 1962 title conquest.
Daniel Angelici, Boca’s President, presents the plaque.
feat. “That day I left the field
of play at 9 o’clock at night in
a truck, inside an open box
and covered with a piece of
canvas. The people were
celebrating in the streets and
we were not yet the
champions. Many fans said
that I had moved forward.
The truth is that the ball had
passed me, my body swept
up due to the shot and my legs reached the
door of the small area. Nevertheless, I caught
the ball well behind”,
he recalled defying the old films.
“Thanks, Tano” was the usual message of
the xeneixes’ earnest request. “You’ve given
me the first joy of football”, recalls Roberto
who was only 10 years old. “We listened to
him by radio. A penalty to River and my
brother hid under a bed. I was petrified with
fear. When I listened ‘Catch it Roma’, I
shouted like mad. We embraced each other
and cried together out of happiness”. Daniel,
of the same generation, reflected as follows:
“Roma is linked to my earliest memories as a
Boca fan, which undoubtedly defined me as
such. That penalty resumes the characteristics
of the xeneixe identity that are as follows:
presence of mind in the difficult moments,
getting bigger when things get too
complicated and naughtiness to end without
problems. The emotion I felt at 10 years of
age, was final. Could I be from any other
La jugada inolvidable de su brillante carrera. Penal para River en La Bombonera sobre
la hora; puede cambiar el curso del campeonato de 1962. Patea Delem, ataja Roma.
The unforgettable move of his brilliant career. A penalty for River in The Candy-Box at the last minute,
might have changed the course of events in the 1962 championship. Delem kicked and Roma saved.
squad? With such a goalkeeper, the answer
was certainly ‘no’”.
That afternoon, journalist Raúl Lotito was
not allowed to go to the field of play. In his
written paper “With your permission, Tano”,
he refers to that moment: “Antonio Roma has
just left, and this accident will neither alter
history, nor add or take anything to his legend.
This implies that death -at least for him- does
not exist. He left it behind to be eternally alive,
as he keeps throbbing -revived today- the joy
I felt by his magnificent save, on that Sunday,
half a century ago, when Tano gave me
permission to be happy”.
As to the forwards, Roma seemed to
occupy the whole space. He started in Ferro
Carril Oeste in 1955. (“He did not have much
technique in the goal, though he knew that
the ball did not have to pass and that is why
he bit it and crushed it, but they did not score
goals and I stayed”), until in 1959 he was
transferred to Boca together with Silvio
Marzolini. He covered the xeneixe goal in 323
matches, won the Argentine tournaments of
1962, 1964 and 1965 and the National
Championship of 1969 and 1970. He also
conquered the first Argentine Cup (1969). On
that same year, he completed 783 minutes
without receiving a goal. With 42 matches in
the National Team, he also played in the World
Cups of Chile and England and the Copas
América of 1957 and 1967. He was born in
the Villa Lugano suburbs, Buenos Aires,
on 13 July 1932.
Marrzolini remembered him as follows:
“He was my daughter’s godfather and a great
person. We were family. He was one of the
most important players of Argentine football.
We had a very good defense, though there
was always a possibility and Tano covered
it all”.
On 20 February he bid his final farewell
and the crowd that accompanied him stopped
at The Candy-Box. Those who celebrated his
feat in 1962, his children, grand-children and
“Half plus One” of Argentina, said in chorus:
“Thank you, Tano”.
CSF ● 63