El Maracanazo

The Maracanazo of the Chilean team (Spanish: Maracanazo de la selección chilena, also known as Condorazo or Bengalazo) was an incident that happened during the football match between Brazil and Chile at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on 3 September 1989, in which Chilean goalkeeper Roberto Rojas pretended to be injured by a flare thrown by Brazilian fans. The incident is considered by historians and football experts as one of the most shameful events in world football. The incident resulted in Chile being banned from qualifying for the 1994 World Cup, and ended Rojas' career, as he was banned for life.

For the 1950 football match referred to as Maracanazo, see Uruguay v Brazil (1950 FIFA World Cup).
Brazil v Chile (1989)
The Maracanã Stadium, venue of the match
Event1990 FIFA World Cup qualification – South American zone – Group 3
Brazil Chile
Brazil Chile
2 0
Match abandoned in the 67th minute with Brazil leading 1–0
FIFA awarded Brazil a 2–0 victory
Chile were banned from qualifying for the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Date3 September 1989
VenueMaracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro
RefereeJuan Carlos Loustau (Argentina)

Background
Main article: 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) § Group 3

For the 1990 FIFA World Cup, the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) received 3.5 berths (including Argentina who already qualified as title holders). The other teams were grouped into three groups. The winners of Groups 1 and 3 qualified directly for the World Cup, while the winner of Group 2 had to play an intercontinental play-off against the winner of Oceania's qualifying. Chile, Venezuela and Brazil were assigned to Group 3.

In the qualifiers, Chile beat Venezuela 3–1 in Caracas, drew 1–1 with Brazil in Santiago and beat Venezuela 5–0 in Mendoza, Argentina as FIFA had banned Chile from playing at home after crowd trouble in the match against Brazil. With both teams due to play each other, Chile and Brazil were leading the group with 5 points each although Brazil were top on goal difference. This meant Chile needed to beat Brazil to qualify.

The match

After a goalless first half, Careca of Brazil scored the only goal in the 49th minute. In the 67th minute, Chilean goalkeeper Roberto Rojas fell to the ground, bleeding, pretending to be hurt by a flare thrown by Brazilian fans.

Immediately, Chilean players and officials, led by captain Fernando Astengo, left the pitch in protest, while Argentinian referee Juan Carlos Loustau unsuccessfully tried to convince them to continue with the game.[1] While Rojas was being treated, Patricio Yáñez made an obscene gesture to the Brazilian fans by grabbing his genitals. This gesture was later known in Chile as Pato Yáñez.[2]

The next day, television images and several photos revealed that the flare thrown by Brazilian fans did not hit Rojas, but landed just over a metre away. With that evidence, CONMEBOL managers discredited Rojas' account of an "attack" by Brazilian fans, casting doubt on the origin of his injury, which showed no signs of burning or gunpowder traces but seemed to have been caused by a blade. Brazilian police had meanwhile identified and arrested the fan that threw the flare onto the pitch: a 24-year-old fan named Rosenery Mello do Nascimento, known later as Fogueteira do Maracanã (Firecracker of Maracanã).[3][4]

As the investigation progressed, it became evident to CONMEBOL managers that Rojas' injury was not caused by an object thrown from the stands. After questioning, Rojas confessed to having cut himself with a razor blade hidden in one of his gloves[5] to fake an attack by Brazilian fans,[6][7] and that Chilean coach Orlando Aravena had asked Rojas and team doctor Daniel Rodríguez to stay on the pitch to force a scandal, with the purpose of nullifying the result of the game and either forcing a third match on neutral soil or disqualifying Brazil from the competition in favour of Chile.

Ten days after the game, FIFA decided that Rojas should be banned "in perpetuity" from professional football (the ban was lifted in 2001) and Chile would be barred from the qualifiers for the 1994 FIFA World Cup (which was due to abandoning the match, not Rojas' simulation). In addition, FIFA ruled that the game would be deemed to have been won by Brazil by walkover with an official score of 2–0. In addition, Sergio Stoppel (president of the Football Federation of Chile), Orlando Aravena (team coach), Fernando Astengo (team captain) and Daniel Rodríguez (team's doctor) among others, were all punished by FIFA for their roles.

Over the following days, there were incidents in front of the Brazilian embassy in Chile after Chilean media had reported the version provided by Rojas and Stoppel. Sports magazines (specially Minuto 90) even suggested a conspiracy by João Havelange to secure Brazil's qualification.

Match details
Brazil 2–0 (W.O.) Chile
Careca 49'
Referee: Juan Carlos Loustau (Argentina)
Brazil
Chile
GK1Taffarel
DF4Mauro Galvão
DF2Jorginho
DF3Aldair
DF6Ricardo Gomes
MF5Branco
MF11Valdo
MF8Dunga
FW10Silas
FW9Careca
FW7Bebeto
Manager:
Brazil Sebastião Lazaroni
GK1Roberto Rojas
DF18Patricio Reyes
DF5Hugo González
DF11Fernando Astengo
DF4Héctor Puebla
MF2Alejandro Hisis
MF8Jaime Vera
MF6Jaime Pizarro
MF10Jorge Aravena
FW14Patricio Yáñez
FW7Juan Carlos Letelier
Manager:
Chile Orlando Aravena

Assistant referees:
Argentina Carlos Espósito
Argentina Francisco Lamolina

See also

References
  1. "Astengo revela nuevos antecedentes del incidente en el Maracaná en 1989". emol.com (in Spanish). El Mercurio. 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  2. Martínez, Alfredo (2009-09-03). "El gesto técnico "Pato Yáñez" cumple 20 años" (in Spanish). Las Últimas Noticias. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  3. Souto, Luiza. "Rosinery Mello (1965–2011) – A fogueteira do Maracanã" (in Portuguese). Folha de Sao Paulo. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  4. "La "Fogueteira" ahora se las gana vendiendo completos" (in Spanish). La Cuarta. 2009-11-24. Archived from the original on 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  5. Edwards, Piers (2014-06-28). "World Cup scandal! The unbelievable plot to eliminate Brazil". CNN. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  6. Kennedy, Kostya (1993-11-14). "BACKTALK; The Fall of the Condor: Chile's National Disgrace". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  7. "The untold scandal: When Chile plotted to eliminate Brazil from the World Cup". SportsKeeda. 2014-06-18. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
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