USSR v Chile World Cup Qualifier 1973

November 13, 2015 11:06 AM

Pinochet, The Cold War, and the Most Pathetic Match Ever Played
posted by josher71 (6 comments total)

huh. i went searching for more info and there's a nice interview with Caszely (the player who didn't shake pinochet's hand) here (in spanish).
posted by andrewcooke at 11:26 AM on November 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

holey moley the bravery of Caszely...
posted by bitteroldman at 11:48 AM on November 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

Very interesting story. The ESPN 30 for 30 about this is great.
posted by saul wright at 11:49 AM on November 13, 2015

Great post, I knew nothing about this. Thanks.
posted by languagehat at 5:20 PM on November 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

Interesting story, but I have a couple of issues with that medium.com story. It mentions that the US supported Pinochet after the coup but neglects to mention that the Americans were also involved in bringing it about. At the end, it sort of handwaves away the Pinochet regime's human rights abuses while crediting its economic "reforms" for bringing about more prosperty without examing whether that wealth mainly went to the rich, which it invariably does in all places that try neoliberal "cures". Yes, it's about sports, but also about so much more, as it says, and the overall impression glosses over how horrible things really were.

Also interesting is the related in kind story of the 1978 World Cup in Argentina amidst similar human right violations and allegations of corruption.
posted by blue shadows at 11:26 PM on November 13, 2015 [3 favorites]

It mentions that the US supported Pinochet after the coup but neglects to mention that the Americans were also involved in bringing it about.

The other articles posted do mention things like the coup had "tacit approval of the CIA" and the like. I posted a few articles about the same thing hoping to get a well rounded picture.

I'll have to read about the 1978 WC Argentina situation. Thanks for the heads up.
posted by josher71 at 10:51 AM on November 14, 2015