World Cup Soccer History: The Battle of Santiago 1962
The Battle of Santiago, a 1962 World Cup group stage match between Chile and Italy is one of the most violent games of football to date. The description by David Coleman, “The most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game”, describes the match perfectly. The match was played on the 2nd of July in 1962 at Santiago which saw a horrendous display of sportsmanship by both Chile and Italy, and it was after this match that referee Ken Aston invented the yellow and red cards.
There was tension between the two sides even before the match, the reason for which was the 1960 earthquake in Chile and the articles written by Italian reporters which presented Chile in a very bad light, going as far as to comment on the morality of the Chilean female population. The Valdivia earthquake which struck Chile on the 22nd of May 1960 killed about three thousand to six thousand people. It is believed that the death toll was played down because of the upcoming World Cup which was to be held in Chile.
The first signs of hostility emerged when the Italians suggested that the World Cup should not be held in Chile, even though the earthquake had struck two years ago and the rebuilding process was almost complete. The fuss over where the World Cup ought to be held died down when the World Cup finally started. But the most controversial and offensive comments came before the Chile versus Italy match and two Italian journalists were responsible for these. They wrote reports in which they insulted the capital Santiago, calling it a dump and suggested that it was not fit to host the World Cup.
The Chilean press made the situation worse, when they got their hands on the articles and printed them in a local newspaper, but only after editing them to make them sound worse. The two Italian journalists had to leave Chile a day before the match because of security reasons, while an Argentinean reporter was thought to be Italian and beaten up. It added fuel to the fire between the two sides who had not previously met before the Group 2 fixture in the World Cup.
The first foul occurred only after 12 seconds which is known to be the fastest foul recorded at that time. Italy’s Giorgio Ferrini was sent off in the 12th minute again as Ferrini fouled Honorino Landa and then refused to go off the pitch. It was one of the few instances when a player was dragged off the pitch by local police. Landa, who had responded with a punch, was not sent off, showing that the English referee, Ken Aston was somewhat in favour of the Chileans. Aston sent off another Italian player, Mario David after he kicked Leonel Sanchez in response to that punch. The match continued and with every passing minute, the encounter got bloodier. Sanchez broke Humberto Maschio’s nose but got away with a mere warning. There were various scuffles throughout the match and the police had to intervene on a number of occasions. Chile finally won the match with a score of 2-0 with goals coming in from Ramírez and Toro.
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