Battle of Santiago (1962 FIFA World Cup)
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Date | 2 June 1962 | ||||||
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Venue | Estadio Nacional, Santiago de Chile | ||||||
Referee | Ken Aston (England) | ||||||
Attendance | 66,057 |
The Battle of Santiago (
Background
In this Group B clash, already heightened tensions between the two football teams were exacerbated by the description of
Chile's organisation of and preparation for the tournament had been severely disrupted by the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the strongest earthquake ever recorded in human history. Articles in the Italian papers La Nazione and Corriere della Sera were saying that allowing Chile to host the World Cup was "pure madness"; this was used and magnified by local newspapers to inflame the Chilean population. The British newspaper the Daily Express wrote "The tournament shows every sign of developing into a violent bloodbath. Reports read like battlefront despatches. Italy vs Germany was described as 'wrestling and warfare.'"[5][citation needed]
Match
Summary
The first foul occurred within 12 seconds of kick-off.[1] Italy's Giorgio Ferrini was sent off in the eighth minute after a foul on Honorino Landa, but refused to leave the pitch and had to be dragged off by policemen.[6] English referee Ken Aston did nothing after a left-hook punch by Chilean outside-left Leonel Sánchez to Italian right-back Mario David, which had come in retaliation for being fouled seconds earlier. When David attempted to kick Sánchez in the head a few minutes later, he was sent off.[1][4] In the violence that continued, Sánchez broke Humberto Maschio's nose with a left hook, but Aston again did not send him off.[4] The two teams engaged in scuffles and spitting, and police had to intervene three more times.[citation needed]
Chile won the match 2–0, with a headed goal from Jaime Ramírez and a low long-range shot from Jorge Toro, both in the last 16 minutes.[citation needed]
Aston, who had now refereed both of Chile's matches, never oversaw a World Cup match again, becoming a senior member of the refereeing committees of the 1966 and 1970 championships.[citation needed]
In his work The Complete Book of the World Cup (Harper Sport), Cris Freddi described the match as "…a horror show, the last of the three great World Cup slugfests." On the same day,
Aftermath
When highlights from the match were shown on British television a couple of days later (not the same night, because film of matches had to be flown back to the UK), the match was introduced by BBC sports commentator David Coleman as "the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game."[5][7] Stones were thrown at some Italian players at their training camp.[citation needed]
Coleman also observed that it was the first meeting between the sides and "we hope it will be the last."
Details
Chile
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Italy
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Linesmen:
Leo Goldstein (Israel)
Fernando Buergo Elcuaz (Mexico)
See also
- Battle of Berne
- Battle of Bordeaux
- Battle of Nuremberg
- Football War
- Chile at the FIFA World Cup
- Italy at the FIFA World Cup
References
- ^ a b c d Murray, Scott (6 November 2003). "Battle of Santiago". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 June 2006.
- ^ "Ken Aston – the inventor of yellow and red cards". FIFA.com. 15 January 2002. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-4070-5732-3. Retrieved 21 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c Pendleton, Ken (16 March 2007). "The Battle of Santiago". US Soccer Players. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
- ^ a b c Burnton, Simon. "World Cup stunning moments: The Battle of Santiago," The Guardian, Thursday 22 March 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
- ^ Azzurri Almanac: Battle Scars
- ^ Italy v Chile World Cup 1962 The Battle of Santiago – YouTube (via broodje80). Retrieved January 22, 2022.
- ^ Gillan, Tony. "When the World Cup came to Roker Park and it ended in disaster for Italy," Sunderland Echo, Sunday 11 July 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
External links
- Video of the match in full length
- "La battaglia di Santiago". ultimathule.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 9 October 2007.
- "Chile vs Italia, Todavía no Existía el Premio Fair Play". todoslosmundiales.com.ar (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 25 April 2007.
- Murray, Scott (18 April 2020). "Chile v Italy 1962 World Cup Live". The Guardian.