On this day – June 2nd

The battle of Santiago

The Battle of Santiago was a football match during the 1962 FIFA World Cup, played between host Chile and Italy on 2 June 1962 in Santiago

It gained its nickname from the level of violence seen in the game, in which two players were sent off, numerous punches were thrown and police intervention was required four times.

Chile's preparations for the 1962 World Cup were much disrupted by the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the strongest earthquake ever recorded in human history. The situation was inflamed by Italian and local Chilean Press hurling increasingly lurid abuse against each other before the match.

The referee was Ken Aston, who later went on to invent yellow and red cards

The first foul occurred within 12 seconds of kick-off. Italy's Giorgio Ferrini was sent off in the eighth minute after a foul on Honorino Landa, but refused to leave the pitch and had to be dragged off by policemen.

English referee Ken Aston did nothing after a punch by Chilean Leonel Sánchez to Italian Mario David, which had come in retaliation for being fouled seconds earlier. When David attempted to kick Sánchez in the head a few minutes later (he missed), he was sent off.

In the violence that continued, Sánchez broke Humberto Maschio's nose with a left hook, but Aston did not send him off. The two teams engaged in scuffles and spitting, and police had to intervene three more times. Chile won the match 2-0.

When highlights from the match were shown on British television a couple of days later (not the same night, because film of matches had to be flown back to the UK), the match was introduced by BBC sports commentator David Coleman as "the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game."

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