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 was
00:27either a draw or a win to qualify for the 1990 FIFA World Cup and continue their streak of playing
00:33in every single World Cup from its inception. But when they turned around and saw the Chilean keeper,
00:39Roberto Rojas, writhing in pain next to the flare, they knew they were in trouble.
00:43In 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 stretcher.
01:09The Chilean players were outraged. Pato Yanez was particularly incensed by what had happened,
01:14furiously shaking his ding-dong and screaming insults at the crowd. Eventually, the Chilean players were
01:20rushed off the field and the match was cancelled. But when the medical reports from Rojas's injury
01:25came back, some things weren't adding up. According to the reports, the injury didn't seem like it was
01:31caused by a flare. It wasn't any gunpowder on his face and the cut to his head was clean and
01:36surgical,
01:37like it was done by a sharp blade. And when the only photos captured of the moment were developed
01:42and published in the media, it became even stranger. See, it didn't look like the flare had hit Roberto
01:47Rojas at all. It was too far away from him. And that's when the full picture of what really
01:53happened started to emerge. It seemed as though the sanctions that had been placed upon Chile after
01:58their first leg match had triggered an idea in Rojas's head. He thought that if he could manufacture
02:03an even worse incident in their match at Brazil's home ground, then maybe he could force Brazil out of
02:09the competition or at least get a rematch at a neutral venue. Of course, he'd only try it if Chile
02:14were on track to lose and if the opportunity presented itself. So when the rogue flare landed
02:20next to him, as they were down by one goal in the second half of the game, that's when he
02:24executed his ridiculous plan. He dropped to the ground, pretending that the flare hit him,
02:29and then he 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, Brazil was awarded the
02:40win. Chile was banned from the next World Cup and Rojas was banned from competitive football for life.
02:46The Brazilian police eventually tracked down the person who threw the flare, Rosaneri Mello. She
02:50apologized for being an unwitting accomplice in the scandal and then she made a bunch of money from
02:55her newfound attention by doing a nude photoshoot in Playboy magazine.
Comments