Tag Archives: Chile

Continuing the series which looks at some of the most dirty and violent games of g\football ever seen. (For Part One please click here) The Battle of Santiago 1962 Chile were the hosts for the 1962 World Cup, and they were drawn in the same group as Italy. Before the meeting of the two sides on 2nd June, tensions between ...

Whilst barely remembered now, few men can have created more headlines around the world for one incident than Chile goalkeeper Roberto Rojas, often known as the Condor for the way he swooped and dived around his goalmouth. At the time, the image of Rojas prone on the floor bleeding caused shock waves around the world, until photographer’s stills of the ...

The most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game”. Those were the words used by British commentator David Coleman to describe the group game between the hosts Chile and Italy in the 1962 World Cup. It has become known simply as the “Battle of Santiago”. Chile had been awarded the World Cup ...

Although he has won comparatively little in his long career – a couple of Argentine league titles and an Olympics gold medal – Marcelo Bielsa, a man known as El Loco (The Crazy) is renowned amongst his fellow professionals as one of the greatest coaches in the world. Bielsa is known for his dedication, obsession with the opposition, eye for ...

The 1962 World Cup match between Chile and Italy has gained notoriety for being one of the most violent and lawless football matches ever played. That entire competition was littered with disciplinary infractions, but what happened in the game between the hosts and the Italians took the indiscipline to a whole new level. The stage for the ‘battle’ was set ...

FIFA World Cup is the acme of all footballing competitions. To participate in one is considered the crowning glory of any football player’s career, while winning it makes you immortal – at least in the footballing sense. When the stakes are so high, it is very likely that a line or two might be crossed when two teams are competing ...