Athletico 100 years: Alfredo Ramos, the Octopus

Alfredo Ramos arrived at Athletico in May 1969 at the invitation of his friend Djalma Santos to be the architect of one of the most important titles in the club’s history: the 1970 Paraná championship, an island surrounded by 25 years of defeats (time elapsed between the 1958 titles and 1982).

Born in Jacareí (SP), Alfredo stood out as a left back for Santos, São Paulo and Corinthians and was one of those called up for the 1954 World Cup, held in Switzerland. He earned the nickname Octopus, due to his thin legs that he used “like tentacles to disarm opposing wingers”.

A calm but disciplinarian man, he had the courage to make unpopular decisions. He picked on what he called the “flying disc” player: the one everyone sees, but no one believes. He showed that he had the ball in his first week at Furacão when he brought Alfredo Gottardi Jr into the starting lineup. An original midfielder, the son of the mythical Caju was repositioned in defense by his namesake. Taking these steps back he became one of the best defenders in Athletico’s history.

In the following years, Polvo led the Red and Black team’s heroic conquest of the 1970 title against all odds. In an interview with the website Hurricane.comin 2005, he said that his first mission was to avoid relegation, as the previous year’s super team of stars needed to be dismantled and the club’s structure was quite precarious.

Polvo, however, used his contacts in underground of São Paulo football to reinforce the squad, in addition to finding unlikely homemade solutions for a lean and cheap squad, but with stars like Sicupira and Nilson Borges. “It was an impossible title,” he said. “And if we didn’t win, who knows where Atlético would be right now,” he concluded.

The memory of this great work meant that Alfredo Ramos’ name was always remembered for taking over the club in moments of turbulence in the following years. It happened three other times, with emphasis on the 1977 campaign when CAP won the first round against its biggest rival, with a historic goal from striker Cabral.