On the 6th February, 1969, Accra Hearts of Oak were held to a 2-2 drawn game by a Pele-led Santos FC of Brazil in an international friendly at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Striker Abeka Ankrah opened the scoring midway in the game but Edson Arantes do Nascimento Pele struck to pull the visitors level before the break.
Not in the mood to be outdone, Ghana’s own “Pele” Amusa Gbadamoshie, restored Hearts’ lead in the second half, but midfielder Edu earned the great Brazilian side a deserving draw.
Hearts were denied a piece of history by Referee George Lamptey and his assistant, who flagged wrongly for offside, when George “Ga Mantse” Alhassan
had prodded home to make it 3-2.
Despite the draw, Hearts still wrote their names in the history books by holding the giants from Brazil to a drawn game.
Santos FC had gone on a tour of Africa in 1969, led by the player, who would become the greatest ever to play the beautiful game, Pele. The Brazilian giants played 9 games on the continent. They won five, drew three and lost just one, and scored and conceded 19 and 11 goals respectively.
Pele
took is tour tally to 7 goals when he netted the equalizer against Hearts at the Accra Sports Stadium, but he made it 8 goals, and became Santos’ top-scorer on tour, on the African continent when he scored against Algeria three days later.
Accra Hearts of Oak were in their 8th year without the league title when they welcomed the mighty Brazilian side that had dominated the Brazilian league, winning the title five consecutive years, and even became the first side to complete a quadruple.
In contrast to Hearts, when Santos were casting their mast on world football in 1962 and laying the seeds for their period of dominance, the Phobians could not build on their league winning feat in the 1961-62 season after the departure of star man Edward Aggrey-Fynn.
But with the game against the Brazilians in 1969, and a disorganized Tour of the UK in late 1970, the fortunes of the club turned considerably in the new decade of the 70s. Hearts won the league four times in the 1970s – 1971, 1973, 1977, and 1979 – and missed out on continental glory twice in the period.
Whereas the influence of Santos FC on the team and how it changed the mentality of the club is subtle, Hearts should be grateful for the friendly with the Brazilians and the opportunity to test their might against the mighty Santos FC of Pele.
It must also be noted that whereas Pele scored 1281 goals in his career, he scored one of those against Hearts at the Accra Sports Stadium.
He went on to win the World Cup with Brazil a year later, his third, but that day on the 6th February, 1969, he was outshone by Abeka Ankrah and Amusa Gbadamoshie; but not outscored by the Hearts duo.
[In many Hearts books and even official documents, the date of this match has erroneously been made 6th June, 1969, and other places, 2nd June, 1969. But here is the clear proof of the correct day of the match. http://santosfcwolrdsoccer.blogspot.com/2011/02/santos-fc-history-february-4-1969.html
PS: It is not 4th Feb, the link leads you to the correct date. Check it out]
heartseleven 