It is practically impossible to hold a World Cup today like the one held in Chile in 1962. A country that, two years earlier, suffered the largest earthquake in contemporary history in Valdivia, a 9.5-magnitude tremor that killed more than 2,000 people. The book Spain in the last romantic world cup, The book by Chilean journalist and writer Enrique Corvetto (Valdivia, 43 years old) describes the enormous efforts made by Chile to develop the biggest football competition under the motto “because we have nothing, we will do everything”. This made that World Cup “romantic”, according to Corvetto, who presented his book in Madrid on Tuesday at the Casa de América. “Genuineness” or “amateurism” were present in the championship, concepts that, he argues, disappeared after the 1966 World Cup in England with the professionalization of football.
The only candidates to host the tournament were Chile and Argentina. After a vote in Lisbon (Portugal) six years before the tournament was to be held, the Chileans won by a large majority. But while preparing to host this competition for the first time, the country was hit by the largest earthquake in history with a magnitude of 9.5. The government redirected its entire budget for the organisation of the football event to repair the damage caused by the catastrophe. However, FIFA showed solidarity with the country and helped to make the tournament possible.
One of the organisers who managed to make this “impossible” World Cup a reality was Carlos Dittborn, the author of the famous World Cup slogan. Dittborn, elected president of the Central Football Association of Chile in 1955, was also president of the South American Football Confederation between 1955 and 1957. However, he was not able to experience the World Cup that had cost so much to organise. The Chilean died a month and a half before the tournament began. A fact that has a great relationship with the Spanish delegation at this World Cup. According to Corvetto in his book, during their stay in Chile, the team visited the organiser’s widow, Juanita Barros, who had just given birth to her seventh and last child, Tomás Dittborn, who is known as “the son of the World Cup”. Paco Gento, a historic Real Madrid player, gave him a gold and diamond badge from the Madrid team, in addition to being named an honorary life member of the white club.
Corvetto says that Spain had a great impact on the development of this World Cup. The author highlights the great passion of Chilean fans for the Spanish team. “When they walked around Viña del Mar, everyone approached them.”
“The UN team”
Spain, who had not participated in a World Cup since Brazil 1950, were heading into the tournament as one of the favourites after qualifying in the qualifiers against Wales and Morocco. The expedition crossed the Atlantic with great players such as Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskas, Paco Gento, Luis Suárez and José Araquistáin. A team that became known as “the UN team” due to the presence of foreign players. Di Stéfano was Argentine; Puskas, Hungarian; Eulogio Martínez, from Paraguay; and José Santamaría, Uruguayan. One of the most attractive showcases of the World Cup was the confrontation between the Argentine player of the Spanish team and the Brazilian Pelé, since they had coincided in the same group. However, the former had travelled injured, hoping for a miracle to play, and the latter was injured in the first match against Mexico.
The national team began with a 1-0 defeat against Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). The second match, against Mexico, ended with a Spanish victory with a goal in the 93rd minute by Joaquín Peiró. In the third match, Spain fell against Brazil in one of its best games. The team went into the break winning 1-0 with a goal by Abelardo Rodríguez, but 15 minutes in the second half were enough for the Canarinha to turn the match around with a double by Amarildo, thus ending Spain’s dream in that World Cup. Brazil would go on to win the World Cup against Czechoslovakia, just after winning the previous one in Sweden against the host country.
Chile 62 has always been remembered as one of the great failures of the Spanish football team. However, two years later, Spain would be proclaimed European champions in 1964 after beating the Soviet Union at the Santiago Bernabéu. A stadium that, 52 years later, in 2014, was visited by that baby that Gento visited and who had been made an honorary member of Real Madrid, according to Julio Dittborn, one of the older brothers of the family.
