Battle of Santiago

Game scene

The Battle of Santiago (it. Battaglia di Santiago , sp.Batalla de Santiago ) is a preliminary round game ( group B ) at the 1962 World Cup in Chile , which took place on June 2, 1962 in the capital Santiago de Chile between the teams of Chile and Italy (final score 2-0) was played. It went down in history as one of the most brutal games in a World Cup, with two dismissals for the Italian team.

Starting position

Group B table before the game

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Chile	1	1	0	0	003: 100	+2	02-00
2.	BR Germany	1	0	1	0	001: 100	± 0	01: 10
3.	Italy	1	0	1	0	001: 100	± 0	01: 10
4th	Switzerland	1	0	0	1	000: 200	−2	00: 20

Both teams played the preliminary round in a group, together with Switzerland and Germany . Chile won their first group game four days earlier against Switzerland 3-1, while Italy and Germany drew 0-0 a day later without a goal. With a win, the Italians could have overtaken the hosts in the table and kept their chance of the quarter-finals, while the Chileans would have qualified early if they had won.

Two years earlier, Chile was hit by the largest earthquake ever recorded . Two Italian journalists, Antonio Ghirelli and Corrado Pizzinelli, sparked the anger of Chilean residents when they described the country as “a poverty-stricken dump full of easy girls” just before they left the country before the tournament started. Chilean newspapers twisted and distorted Italian articles to further fuel anti-Italian sentiment. Shortly before the game, an Argentine journalist who was mistaken for an Italian was beaten up in a bar in Santiago.

Course of the game

Giorgio Ferrini (2nd from right) and referee Ken Aston (right) during the game

In front of over 66,000 spectators, the English referee Ken Aston kicked off the game in the Chilean national stadium . Aston sent the Italian Giorgio Ferrini off the field after a foul on Honorino Landa in the 8th minute . Ferrini refused to leave the field and was led away by Chilean police screaming and kicking. The game could only be continued after an eight-minute break.

Towards the end of the first half, Chile midfielder Leonel Sánchez returned the favor to Mario David for a series of kicks by killing the Italian. When David saw that the referee would do nothing, he kicked Sánchez in the neck and was sent off the field in the 41st minute.

The brutality increased more and more. Italy striker Humberto Maschio suffered a nasal bone fracture caused by Sánchez with a left hook. There were repeated unsportsmanlike conduct. There was spitting, kicking, and various fights. The referee had to stand between the fighting players again and again, and twice more he needed the support of the police.

"I wasn't reffing a football match, I was acting as an umpire in military maneuvers."

"I didn't whistle a football game, I acted as an arbitrator in military maneuvers."

- Referee Ken Aston , years after the game

Two late goals by Jaime Ramírez in the 73rd minute and Jorge Toro in the 87th minute decided the game in favor of Chile, which qualified for the quarter-finals.

Game details

Chile		Italy
	2. Preliminary round match day June 2, 1962 at 3 p.m. in Santiago de Chile ( Estadio Nacional de Chile ) Result: 2: 0 (0: 0) Spectators: 66,057 Referee: Ken Aston ( England )
	Misael Escuti - Luis Eyzaguirre , Raúl Sánchez , Sergio Navarro , Carlos Contreras - Eladio Rojas , Leonel Sánchez , Jorge Toro - Jaime Ramírez , Honorino Landa , Alberto Fouilloux Trainer: Fernando Riera	Carlo Mattrel - Sandro Salvadore , Enzo Robotti , Mario David , Francesco Janich - Paride Tumburus , Giorgio Ferrini - Bruno Mora , Humberto Maschio , José Altafini , Giampaolo Menichelli Trainer: Paolo Mazza
	1-0 Jaime Ramírez (73.) 2-0 Jorge Toro (87.)
		Refused places: Ferrini (7th, assault), David (41st, revanchefoul)
	The game went down in football history as the Battle of Santiago, as it was fought with great brutality on both sides.

Further development

Final table of group B

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	BR Germany	3	2	1	0	004: 100	+3	05: 10
2.	Chile	3	2	0	1	005: 300	+2	04: 20
3.	Italy	3	1	1	1	003: 200	+1	03: 30
4th	Switzerland	3	0	0	3	002: 800	−6	00: 60

Since the German team defeated Switzerland 2-1 and then Chile 2-0, it was already clear before the last game that Italy could not reach any of the first two places in the table and were therefore eliminated from the tournament. The 3-0 victory over Switzerland only secured Italy third place in Group B.

Since many players who were sent off the pitch did not understand the referee's decision or pretended not to understand, and the spectators did not always recognize warnings and reprimands, referee Aston (now in his role as referee supervisor) suggested during the 1966 World Cup that they should be visible Introduce signs in the form of yellow and red cards . The experiences he himself had in this game may have contributed to this. The cards were used for the first time at the Football World Cup in Mexico in 1970 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Scott Murray, Georgina Turner, Sean Ingle: The greatest-ever European Cup thrashings . The Guardian, November 6, 2003
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ken Aston - the inventor of yellow and red cards . ( Memento from June 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) In: fifa.com , January 15, 2002 (English).