Football Spotter

The Battle of Santiago

This 1962 World Cup match between hosts Chile and Italy has been re-played a million and one times but I’d forgotten just how bad it actually was.

David Coleman starts the ‘highlights’ with the best intro to a game you will ever likely to hear “Good evening. The game you are about to see is the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game.” and it’s full of classic quotes such as “That’s one of the most cold-blooded and lethal tackles I think I have ever seen” so it’s worth watching at least one more time.

Tensions were already high before the game and from the kick off the first foul was committed within 12 seconds. Italy’s Giorgio Ferrini was then sent off in the twelfth minute after a foul on Honorino Landa but refused to leave the pitch and had to be dragged off kicking and screming by the police. A few minutes later Landa retaliated with another foul , but managed to escape a red card.

The referee was an Englishman, Ken Aston who then overlooked a punch by the Chilean player Leonel Sanchez to the Italian Mario David. When David got his own back and kicked Sanchez in the neck a few minutes later, he also got his marching orders.

As the violence continued, Sanchez then broke Humberto Maschio’s nose with a left hook, which impressed the commentator “I say, that was one of the neatest left hooks I’ve ever seen!”. The two teams continued to engage in further scuffles, raised fists and spitting, resulting in the police having to intervene three more times.

Chile eventually won the game 2-0 (74′ Ramírez; 88′ Toro) with a full eleven men against Italy’s remaining nine. Fantastic er appalling stuff.