June 2, 1962: The Battle of Santiago

June 2, 1962: One of the nastiest matches in World Cup history is played, between host Chile and Italy. It becomes known as "The Battle of Santiago."

Chile got to host the 1962 World Cup because the last 2 World Cups had been held in Europe (Switzerland in 1954 and Sweden in 1958), and the South American nations threatened a boycott if their continent didn't get to host it.

An earthquake in 1960 devastated the country's capital, Santiago, and the country's recovery was slow, with more effort given to the host stadiums than to the national infrastructure. Only 1 World Cup host nation has ever forfeited its chance: Colombia for 1986, because of its civil war, to Mexico. In hindsight, Chile should have turned the host duties over to Argentina, who finished 2nd in the voting.

As a result, in the leadup to the tournament, 2 Italian journalists, Antonio Ghirelli and Corrado Pizznelli, called Santiago "a backwater dump":

The phones don't work, taxis are as rare as faithful husbands, a cable to Europe costs an arm and a leg and a letter takes five days to turn up...

Chile is a small, proud and poor country: it has agreed to organize this World Cup in the same way as Mussolini agreed to send our air force to bomb London (they didn't arrive). The capital city has 700 hotel beds. Entire neighborhoods are given over to open prostitution. This country and its people are proudly miserable and backwards.

Regardless of how close those statements were to the truth -- and they were true of some cities in Italy as well -- the proud and poor people of Chile were enraged.

To make matters worse, the Chilean and Italian were put into the same group. Things couldn't have been set up worse if they tried. Chile opened the tournament by beating Switzerland, 3-1 at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago. The next day, Italy could only manage a 0-0 draw with West Germany. And so, the stage was set for Chile and Italy to meet at the Estadio Nacional.

And the tournament was already rough: The 8 games played over the 1st 2 days featured 4 sending-offs, 3 broken legs, a fractured ankle and some cracked ribs.

Television, and conditions in Chile, being what they were at the time, broadcasting the match live outside of the country was next to impossible. So, for consumption in the British Isles, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) sent a film crew, and announcer David Coleman to describe the match, and then have the film sent back to London by plane.

When people in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland turned on their television sets to watch, they heard an introduction that Coleman had filmed for this match:

Good evening. The game you are about to see is the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football in the history of the game. This is the first time these countries have met. We hope it will be the last.

The national motto of Chile reads, "By Reason or By Force." Today, the Chileans weren’t prepared to be reasonable, the Italians only used force, and the result was a disaster for the World Cup.

If the World Cup is going to survive in its present form, something has got to be done about teams that play like this. Indeed, after seeing the film tonight, you at home may well think that teams that play in this manner ought to be expelled immediately from the competition.

 

The referee was an Englishman, Ken Aston. He would later officiate at the 1963 FA Cup Final, Manchester United defeating Leicester City. After the 1966 World Cup, he got the idea, from traffic lights, for showing players charged with fouls a card: Yellow for a serious foul, two of them in one game grounds for being sent off; and red for a dangerous foul, and an immediate sending-off.

How many cards he would, and should, have shown in this game is in the eye of the beholder, but one wonders how many players might still have been on the pitch when he blew the final whistle. It might have been down to five-a-side.

Each team took the pitch wearing their usual home colors: Chile in red, Italy in blue (known as the Azzurri). It took 12 seconds for Aston to cite a player for a foul. In the 8th minute, he sent Italy's Giorgio Ferrini off for a foul on Honorino Landa. But Ferrini, a midfielder for Torino FC, refused to leave, and had to be escorted off by policemen.

Italian right back Mario David fouled Chile's Leonel Sánchez, who responded with a left hook, and David went down like a ton of bricks. Aston didn't see either action, and both men were allowed to continue. Later in the 1st half, Sánchez, an outside left for Universidad de Chile, punched Italy's Humberto Maschio, breaking the Atlanta inside left's nose. Aston didn't see this, either. But someone on the Italian side did, and a fight broke out. There was spitting from each side, and the police had to intervene again. In the 41st minute, Aston saw David do something, and sent the A.C. Milan player off. Italy went into the locker room down to 9 men, but the halftime score was still 0-0.

Finally, in the 73rd minute, Chile wore down the 9 remaining Italians, and Jamie Ramírez, an outside right for Universidad, scored on a header. In the 87th minute, Jorge Toro, a midfielder -- ironically, then playing for an Italian team, Modena -- added a low shot that made the final score 2-0 to Chile.

The win meant that Chile advanced to the Knockout Stage, regardless of their remaining game, which they lost to West Germany, 2-0. The loss meant that Italy were out, regardless of their remaining game, in which they beat Switzerland, 3-0. Both of those games were in Santiago.

David Coleman's wish was not granted: At the next World Cup, in England in 1966, Chile and Italy were again placed in the same group. This time, the play was rough, but not nearly as rough as it was in 1962, and Italy won, 2-0. But neither team advanced to the Knockout Round, because North Korea managed a draw with Chile and, in one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history, defeated Italy.

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June 2, 1962 was a Saturday. In other games in that World Cup on this day:

* England beat Argentina 3-1 in Rancagua. Ron Flowers (a penalty), Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves scored the England goals.

* Yugoslavia beat Uruguay 3-1 in Arica. There was rough play in this one, too, as each side had a player sent off.

* And Brazil and Czechoslovakia played to a 0-0 draw in Viña del Mar. This last game turned out to be a preview of the Final, which defending Champion Brazil won.

American-style football, basketball and hockey were all out of season. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Angels, 6-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Ken McBride outpitched Whitey Ford. Mickey Mantle was injured, and did not play. Roger Maris, moving over to center field, went 0-for-4. Yogi Berra got a hit pinch-hitting for Ford, but it wasn't enough.

* The New York Mets were swept by the San Francisco Giants in a doubleheader, 10-1 and 6-4. Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda hit home runs in the opener, while Tom Haller and Harvey Kuenn hit them in the nightcap.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-0 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Dennis Bennett pitched a 4-hit shutout, striking out 11.

* A doubleheader was split at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Chicago White Sox won the 1st game, 10-2. The Baltimore Orioles won the 2nd game, 11-4. Brooks Robinson went 4-for-9 with a home run and 3 RBIs over the 2 games.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Colt .45s, 9-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente hit a 3-run homer.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline did not play for the Tigers, but, in his place in right field, Charlie Maxwell hit a home run. So did Billy Bruton and Rocky Colavito.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Frank Robinson went 2-for-4, and Wally Post hit a home run. Ernie Banks went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron went 1-for-2 with a 2-RBI triple and a walk. Stan Musial went 1-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Washington Senators, 9-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3, but did draw 2 walks.

* And the Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs.