Brazil vs Chile, 1989: The goalkeeper, the blade, the Playboy model and Chile’s audacious attempt to kick Brazil out of the World Cup
As Chile’s hopes of qualifying for the 1990 World Cup faded at the Maracaña, goalkeeper Roberto Rojas committed an act which would shock, appal and intrigue the footballing world in equal measure. With Brazil leading by a goal to nil in a crucial World Cup qualifying game, Chile goalkeeper Rojas suddenly collapsed to the floor. Beside him, was a flare thrown by a Brazilian fan. As blood poured from his head, the Chilean team rushed to help him and removed him from the pitch. They then refused to return to the field in protest.
The referee, Juan Carlos Lostau, was left with no other option but to abandon the match.
Loustau said: “I stopped the game. At that point, (Fernando) Astengo had the ball out-wide, and I headed off to see what was going on. As I was getting there, because I was 50 metres away, I got the feeling that the flare hadn’t hit Rojas. But I couldn’t be sure.
“It struck me how the players were all quickly running towards him. So I couldn’t see clearly what was going on. All I could see was a red-coloured stain, but I wasn’t sure what had happened. I said to the Chilean players to let me see him, so that he could be attended to. They refused.”
His suspicions were shared by many over the validity of Rojas’s injuries. Shortly after, Argentinian photographer Ricardo Alfieri would publish images showing that the flare had in fact landed yards from where the goalkeeper was standing. Rojas, a respected goalkeeper plying his trade in Brazil for São Paulo at the time, had hidden a razor blade in his left glove. Using it to inflict the injuries.
It was part of an outrageous ploy, apparently decided upon by members within the Chile dressing room, to leave the field of play at the first sign of provocation from opposition players or fans, in order to force a replay at a neutral venue. With the images clearly showing that the flare hadn’t struck Rojas, he was banned from football for life.
What’s more, Brazil were awarded a 2-0 victory – eliminating Chile from 1990 World Cup qualification. They were also barred from entering qualification for the 1994 World Cup in the USA. Chile manager Orlando Aravena and captain Astengo were handed five-year bans, whilst the Chilean FA’s President Sergio Stoppel – a doctor – was banned for life. For Brazil, the initial panic at the possibility of being kicked out of the World Cup, was followed by immense relief after the FIFA verdict.
“I was terrorized,” Ricardo Gomes, Brazil captain on the day, told CNN. “I thought immediately of losing the chance to go to the World Cup. It was something really bad.
“Chile had a plan which they had prepared and it was unbelievable, truly unbelievable.
“The strangest thing is they had a good team.”
The plan had been unbelievable. So unbelievable, that it posed the question of where the audacity to attempt such an act had come from?
To find the answer, you have to take yourself back to the years of General Augusto Pinochet, 50 years on from the coup which saw him seize power in Chile. Pinochet had become President of Chile after overthrowing the socialist government of Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973. His reign was a bloody and brutal one. Pinochet persecuted leftists, socialists, and political critics, resulting in the executions of over 3,000 people as well as the torture or imprisonment of tens of thousands more. According to a study in Latin American Perspectives, at least 200,000 Chileans (about 2% of Chile’s 1973 population) were forced into exile.
Additionally, hundreds of thousands more left after economic crises in that 1970s and 1980s, in the aftermath of the military coup. By 1989, Chile was wearily coming to the end of the military junta’s rule, led by Pinochet. However, his 17 years in power had deeply damaged society at all levels, and sport was no exception.
Rojas’ attempt at getting the game abandoned was the latest scandal in Chilean football, after a dangerous win-at-all-costs mentality had seeped into the sport after the coup. In 1979, Chile had made headlines for all the wrong reasons when several players had travelled to the U20 South American Championship in Uruguay with doctored passports.
Only three of the 20 man squad were young enough to compete at the tournament. One of the players involved in the passport scandal was Rojas. He later admitted: “We all knew that the passports had been falsified. And when I say we all knew, I mean the management, the players and the coaching staff.”
Controversy continued to follow Chilean football and Rojas, in particular, for the duration of 1980’s. He missed out on the chance to represent Chile at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, after testing positive for an anabolic steroid following a friendly match against England.
In 1987, he was causing more trouble, where prior to the 1987 Copa América, he lead a Chilean players’ commission discussing the awarding of price money with the FA. His stubbornness almost led to the squad returning home from the tournament, without playing a single game. In the end, he was replaced by a more amenable negotiator.
Speaking on this shameful era in the nation’s history, Daniel Matamala, author of a political history of Chilean football, blames the country’s sports authorities of the time for “endorsing this feeling that we had to do whatever it takes to win”.
“The national team was encouraged to play dirty and use underhand tactics. At that time, it was thought that Chile lost because we weren’t ‘streetwise’ enough…and we all know where that attitude ended up leading us.”
The incident at the Maracaña in 1989 was simply indicative of an era where winning was the only thing that mattered, by fair means or foul. Going into the game, Chile had known that they were up against it, having never won a competitive game in Brazil. They had been drawn in a group alongside Brazil and Venezuela, with only the group winners advancing.
Chile and Brazil had seen off Venezuela, before drawing 1-1 in the first game in Santiago. With Brazil’s goal difference vastly superior, Chile knew that only a win would realistically be enough in Rio de Janeiro. Chile managed to survive a ropey first-half – barely managing to string a move together in their opponents’ half, as Brazil dominated and created numerous opportunities.
The only positive for La Roja was that it was still 0-0 -largely thanks to Rojas – and the longer it remained so, the more concerned Brazil might get. That said, they didn’t look like scoring and a goal for the hosts felt inevitable. That proved to be the case, as just four minutes into the second-half, Brazil took the lead.
Bebeto showed quick feet to skip away from a Hugo Gonzáles challenge before slipping the ball in to Careca, who shimmied past Héctor Puebla, to enter the penalty area and strike a shot past Rojas. It wasn’t the sweetest of strikes and Chile’s goalkeeper got his hands to the ball. It was one he needed to save.
This goal exemplified the difference between the sides. The speed of thought and control of the ball from Bebeto and Careca, was on a different wavelength to anything Chile could produce. Brazil simply looked far too classy, as they were driven forward by over 140,000 fans in the Maracaña.
Chile needed a miracle, an act of divine inspiration. They couldn’t beat Brazil on the pitch – as they had suspected – but they could maybe beat them through their cunning approach to the beautiful game. As Rojas lay stricken on the floor, smoke emanating from the ground beside him, an incredible situation was developing. The flare had been thrown by 24-year-old Brazil fan, Rosenery Mello do Nascimento.
Known as Fogueteira do Maracanã (Firecracker of Maracanã), she would later be arrested before featuring on the cover of the Brazilian Playboy Magazine in November. Her actions meant that if the flare had struck Rojas, the five-time World Cup winners may be facing elimination at the qualifying stage for the first time ever, with disqualification a possibility.
As chaos ensued, photographer Paulo Teixeira was immediately doubtful of Rojas’ injuries.
“We photographers were sitting along the side line and saw the flare come over. I was amazed to see Rojas rolling over and bleeding from an eye, as the device had hit the ground about a meter from him,” he later said.
“Amazing as it may sound, no TV camera caught the moment the flare flew over and supposedly hit the goalkeeper.
“But there was one guy by me – Ricardo Alfieri, a good friend – and I asked him: ‘Ricardo, did you capture the flare?’ He said: ‘Of course, about 4-5 shots.’”
Teixeira, who now works as a football agent, immediately realised the value of these photographs. However, this was a time when cameras recorded images onto slides, rather than digitally. Alfieri was working for a Japanese magazine and had to send the images to Tokyo, unprocessed, the next morning. They only trusted the own laboratory.
Teixeira wasn’t willing to take any chances: “I said to Ricardo: ‘Listen, you are the only one to have the evidence that Rojas is lying and cheating. I won’t let you out of my country with those films unprocessed.’”
With a Chilean pundit already announcing to a local radio station that he had seen the flare hit Rojas, the necessity of getting the pictures printed swiftly was considerable.
“So I found the radio reporter and told him Ricardo had the shots. He put Ricardo live on air and the whole atmosphere changed,” Teixeira said.
“Ten minutes later, Brazilian football president Ricardo Teixeira (no relation) walked into the dressing room where we were. He was livid – his face white, black, red, yellow – all colours.
“‘Who has the films?’ he asked. I have them, I answered. I was the biggest asset on earth at that point and Teixeira was always asking if I was sure about the shots. But I knew I could rely on Alfieri’s word, because he was the best.
“It took four hours to warm up and prepare the laboratory. The lab lady was furious – having been dragged out of her Sunday to work at night.”
A day after the game had been played, on the evening of Monday 4th September, Brazilian television network Globo ran the scoop in a programme called “Jornal Nacional” – having paid Teixeira five thousand dollars for the images.
“When the pictures came out, there were four clear shots – starting with the device flying and then landing one meter away from Rojas. (CBF president) Teixeira was so relieved,” recalled the agent Teixeira.
President Teixeira flew to the FIFA headquarters in Switzerland, travelling with a copy of the incriminating documentary. Football’s world governing body, satisfied by the evidence, duly handed Brazil a 2-0 technical victory, which qualified them for the 1990 World Cup finals.
Chile, no longer able to qualify for the tournament, were removed from qualification for the 1994 finals. FIFA concluded that they had broken the regulation of leaving the field before a game’s conclusion. Rojas was banned for life for his antics, whilst the Chilean FA president and team doctor, Daniel Rodríguez, received similar bans. Aged just 32 and playing in Brazil at the time of the incident, Rojas faced an enforced retirement and returned to Chile to piece his life back together.
“I cut myself with a razor and the farce was discovered,” he later admitted to local media.
“It was a cut to my dignity. I had problems at home with my wife and with my team-mates. But if I were Argentine, Uruguayan or Brazilian, I would not be suspended.”
Four years later, in 1993, help came from an unexpected source. São Paulo coach Tele Santana and the club’s president, José Eduardo Mesquita Pimenta, travelled to the Chilean capital city of Santiago. They asked Rojas to come back to his old club and become the goalkeeping coach. Rojas accepted and during his time in the role he coached legendary Brazilian goalkeeper, Rogério Ceni. His FIFA ban was lifted in 2001, before he briefly managed São Paulo in 2003.
“He showed his strength of character through his work and after training (Sao Paulo) goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni to be one of the best, Roberto also coached Sao Paulo for a brief spell from 2003 – qualifying the team for the Copa Libertadores (first time since 1994),” Viviane Rojas, his wife, told CNN.
Despite his elaborate attempts to steal a World Cup place from Brazil, he and his family faced no repercussions living in São Paulo.
“Here in Brazil, Roberto has always been loved,” she said. “The most important thing for Brazilians is that he has, in his interviews, come across as a human being with a very distinct and good character. He has admitted his guilt and been forgiven.”
Brazil’s captain in 1989, Gomes, shares Viviane’s sentiments, in spite of the fact her husband could have cheated him out of his only World Cup finals appearance.
“I met Rojas many years later and he admitted his mistakes. He is not naughty but that day, he had a lapse – a really bad decision,” he said.
After his interim spell at Sào Paulo, Rojas would go on to manage Brazilian sides Comercial, Ituiutaba and Sport Recife. He also managed Guaraní in Paraguay. In 2014, his wife revealed that he had been waiting three years for a liver transplant after contracting Hepatitis C, and that he had undergone a five-hour surgery in March of that year to relieve the accumulation of fluid in his lungs.
“I saw myself in a coffin”, Rojas told UOL Esportes.
He would eventually receive the life saving liver transplant in São Paulo, in 2015.
Now, aged 66, the man nicknamed “The Condor” for his stunning ability to fly across his goal, is considered Chile’s greatest ever goalkeeper by many. However, the events of that winter’s evening in Rio will forever tarnish Rojas’s legacy. He was the lead rule breaker in an era where there were none in Chilean sport. In recent years, Chile have won two Copa América titles (in 2016 and 2017) and have competed admirably on the world stage.
Their teams have played breath-taking football under the likes of Marcelo Bielsa, Jorge Sampaoli and Juan Antonio Pizzi – spearheaded by global superstar Alexis Sanchéz. Chilean football, along with society has progressed a great deal. It is now a stable democracy, boasting one of South America’s strongest economies.
Long gone are the days of fear and distrust which had lingered during Pinochet’s reign of terror.
The scars of the past, though, will always be there. The incident known as the Marcanazo of the Chilean team, still haunts the memories of many in the country. On the 25th anniversary of the Rojas incident, the title of an article in Santiago-based newspaper La Tercera accurately summed up the attitude of modern Chile towards what took place that evening: ‘Eternal shame’.
This article was kindly written for TFHB by Will Godley
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