00:00As he rolled on the ground with blood spilling from his head, the Brazilian crowd couldn't
00:04believe what they were seeing. They were so close to beating Chile and qualifying for the World Cup,
00:09but when a Brazilian supporter stupidly launched a flare onto the pitch,
00:13causing the Chilean goalkeeper to collapse, they completely derailed the game.
00:17The injury happened in the 67th minute of the game. Brazil was up 1-0, and all they needed
00:27was either a draw or a win to qualify for the 1990 FIFA World Cup and continue their streak of
00:33playing in every single World Cup from its inception. But when they turned around and
00:37saw the Chilean keeper, Roberto Rojas, writhing in pain next to the flare, they knew they were in
00:43trouble. In the first leg of the qualifiers that the two countries had played against each other,
00:47the situation had been reversed, where the Chilean home crowd was so violent and unruly that FIFA
00:53had banned Chile from hosting their next qualifying match at their home ground. However, this moment
00:58felt far worse, and the Brazilians knew it could threaten their entire World Cup qualification.
01:04The goalkeeper's head was bandaged to stop the profuse bleeding, and he was taken away on a
01:09stretcher. The Chilean players were outraged. Pato Yanez was particularly incensed by what had
01:14happened, furiously shaking his ding-dong and screaming insults at the crowd. Eventually,
01:19the Chilean players were rushed off the field and the match was cancelled. But when the medical
01:23reports from Rojas' injury came back, some things weren't adding up. According to the reports,
01:29the injury didn't seem like it was caused by a flare. There wasn't any gunpowder on his face,
01:34and the cut to his head was clean and surgical, like it was done by a sharp blade. And when
01:39the only
01:39photos captured of the moment were developed and published in the media, it became even stranger.
01:44See, it didn't look like the flare had hit Roberto Rojas at all. It was too far away from him.
01:50And
01:50that's when the full picture of what really happened started to emerge. It seemed as though
01:55the sanctions that had been placed upon Chile after their first leg match had triggered an idea
02:00in Rojas' head. He thought that if he could manufacture an even worse incident in their match
02:05at Brazil's home ground, then maybe he could force Brazil out of the competition, or at least get a
02:11rematch at a neutral venue. Of course, he'd only try it if Chile were on track to lose,
02:15and if the opportunity presented itself. So when the rogue flare landed next to him,
02:21as they were down by one goal in the second half of the game, that's when he executed his
02:25ridiculous plan. He dropped to the ground, pretending that the flare hit him, and then
02:29he pulled a small razor blade out of his left glove, and he slashed his own forehead open.
02:35When the truth about what had happened was finally admitted by Rojas himself,
02:39Brazil was awarded the win. Chile was banned from the next World Cup, and Rojas was banned from
02:44competitive football for life. The Brazilian police eventually tracked down the person who
02:48threw the flare, Rosaneri Melo. She apologized for being an unwitting accomplice in the scandal,
02:53and then she made a bunch of money from her newfound attention by doing a nude photo shoot
02:58in Playboy magazine.
02:59Molina News
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