Roberto Rojas Razor Blade

Chile has come a long way when you consider what took place 21 years ago. They looked good early on against Brazil in the 2010 World Cup, and if they would have stolen a goal the game might have been much more interesting. But considering what took place in a Brazil versus Chile qualifying match those many years ago, they’ve made good strides.

In a World Cup qualifying match with Brazil in 1989, Chilean goalkeeper Roberto Rojas faked like he’d be hit by a firecracker or flare when he’d actually cut himself with a razor blade that he’d hidden inside his glove. Who knows where exactly in his glove, since he had to play with those same gloves the previous 70 minutes of the match. Take a look at the video below, just amazing. Chile will end up getting punished for leaving the field and Rojas would be banned from the sport. There’s so much pressure on the players to win, it’s in many ways that something like this would happen in South America.

Here’s the story from Wikipedia:

In 1989, Rojas was in goal for Chile’s 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Brazil at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã stadium. Chile, down 1-0, would be eliminated from the upcoming World Cup had they lost. Around the 70-minute mark, Rojas fell to the pitch writhing and holding his forehead. A firework, thrown from the stands by a Brazilian fan named Rosemary de Mello, was smoldering about a yard away. Rojas, his head bloodied, was carried off the field; his teammates then refused to return claiming conditions were unsafe. The match went unfinished.

Video-evidence later showed that Rojas had not been hit by the firework. His head injury was discovered to have been self-inflicted with a razor blade hidden in his glove. FIFA awarded Brazil a 2-0 win, effectively eliminating Chile from the 1990 World Cup. As a consequence, Chile was banned from the 1994 FIFA World Cup and Rojas was banned for life, along with coach Orlando Aravena and team doctor Daniel Rodriguez.

New 30 for 30 podcast about this incident called:
THE FALL OF THE CONDOR
During qualifying for the 1990 World Cup, Chile’s national team felt that it needed to be “more bandits than the bandits.” Driven by an intense desire to eliminate rival Brazil, goalkeeper Roberto “Condor” Rojas pushed his team past the brink. Reported by Jody Avirgan.