Santa Cruz, however, was the first team in Pernambuco to accept them. "Lacraia", was the first one. This fact contributed to the popularity of the team, as black people are numerous in Brazilian population. In 1915, there was the greatest comeback ever seen in a football match in Brazil. At the Aflitos stadium, Santa Cruz was trailing by a 5 – 1 score against América (Pernambuco), however it scored six goals in the final 15 minutes. In 1917, the club was accepted into the Pernambucan Sport League, the old name of the Pernambucan Football Federation. On January 30, 1919, Santa Cruz beat Botafogo team of Rio de Janeiro on the Malaquias field by 3–2. Alberto Santos-Dumont, the airplane pioneer, was in Recife, but was unnoticed: Santa Cruz's victory took everyone's attention. On January 31, the "Jornal Pequeno" (Small Newspaper) printed in the headlines: "Botafogo Futebol Clube is beaten by the home "boys" by 3–2." It was the first time that a northern-northeastern team beat a team from the south-eastern region of Brazil. On December 13, 1931, beating Torre by 2–0, Santa Cruz won its first state championship. Tará and Sherlock were the most important players. On October 10, 1934, the Brazilian National team, which had just arrived home from the 1934 Football World Cup in Italy, played some friendly matches against the major teams of Pernambuco. Sport Recife was defeated 4–2; Náutico was beaten 8–3. Santa Cruz also was defeated 3–1. Because of a ship delay, the Brazilian team could not continue its trip back to Rio de Janeiro. So Santa Cruz asked for a return match. This time, Santa Cruz won by 3–2. On May 13, 2012, Santa Cruz won the match against Sport Clube do Recife, 3 x 2, and is the Pernambuco Champion in 2012. During the late 1960s and the 1970s, Santa Cruz achieved greater popularity. Much of that was due to the State Penta-championship that Santa Cruz had won. Moreover, since Santa Cruz's impressive performances in the National championship, the importance of the club was finally recognized beyond the state of Pernambuco. The participation of Santa Cruz in the National competition lead the club to gain some credibility in 1965 after beating Flamengo by 3–1 in the Maracanã stadium.