This is the story of a game, like no other game you have ever heard of.
It happened in January 1988 in the province of Salta, in the north of Argentina.
The game was for much more than a qualifying place to the Nacional B (equivalent to the championship in England). It was for the honour of the provinces.
That afternoon, Sunday the 10th, the local team Juventud Antoniana de Salta were facing off with Atletico Ledesma de Jujuy.
Both of them traditional teams in their provinces, but small teams, in comparison with the big guns from the capital Buenos Aires.
The regional rivalry between the two northern clubs, created much anticipation and it was the talk of the towns during the week leading to the game.
“No way those Jujenos will beat us” said the local supporters. Defeat in Salta was unthinkable.
Nobody imagined then what would transpire on match day.
With 5 minutes to go, things were all level at 2-2. Nobody at the stadium can believe that Ledesma are taking a point away from Salta.
At this point Aguero, a midfield for the visiting team has the ball, trying to slow play and run the clock down.
Suddenly, he decides to play a slide rule pass to the incoming Gustavo Gherbis, leaving him one on one with Vargas, the local keeper.
In front of the local supporters, he has no better idea than score a great goal.
Everyone is screaming for an offside, but the referee, seeing that his assistant did not raise his flag, validates the goal.
The stadium falls silent, amongst shocked faces and heart attacks, Gherbis celebrates what surely is the winner for his team.
If seconds ago, a draw was a bad result, losing against those “non existent jujenos” is unthinkable.
The local supporters begin to throw everything they can get their hands on onto the pitch.
Their main target is the Linesman, who did not “give that clear offside”
The man in question, remembering that day, says “with the local supporters behind me, of course I wanted their team to win 8-1, but what could I do if the Ledesma player was about 3 metres on side, all I remember is getting hit with a bottle in the back that took me down, and the referee had no choice but to stop the game”
As the referee and his assistants leave the pitch, they seek refuge inside their dressing room.
“Three young policemen were deployed in front of our door” continues the linesman. “I felt more sorry for them than for us, the were so pale and looked so scared”
“There and then, we began to hear the kicks to our door, singing threatening songs about how they were going to kill us”
But then the referee, Mr Pisapia, who was a policeman, had a surprise for everybody.
In the Linesman’s words “Pisapia, was a policeman, and like all of them has a 45 and must take it with him everywhere. As they kept kicking the door, it became apparent that they were going to break it any second. The referee then, very calmly, got his 45 out of his locker, and opened the door, pointing it to one of their heads. Only then they calmed down a little”
Gustavo Cil, one of the local team Strikers, says “we were in our dressing room, and we thought that they were going to kill the ref. When he tells us that he will restart the game, we could not believe it. Once we restarted I asked what the score was, and he said. Don’t worry I have chopped off their last goal, we are back at 2-2”
After 20 minutes of suspension, the game kicks off again, minus the linesman who has been replaced by the 4th official. I mean he had the courage to keep his flag down, but was not feeling suicidal enough to carry on.
The referee announces publicly that he has changed his mind about the goal, as there was a clear offside, and the score is still 2-2.
Pisapia restarts the game, and discretly tells Gonzales (the visitor’s captain) “ we will continue, as if I had chopped off that goal. The game has been officially suspended. Final score on my report will be 3-2 to you. We just need to pretend this is real in order to leave here alive”
So they play the last fictitious 5 minutes of the game, without incidents, and the locals (team and supporters) go home thinking they drew 2-2.
As he said. Pisapia reported the game suspended for rioting with 5 minutes to go, the result was 3-2 to the visiting team.
The result was confirmed by the football committee days later, but no sanctions were dished to the club or culprits of such acts.
It happened in January 1988 in the province of Salta, in the north of Argentina.
The game was for much more than a qualifying place to the Nacional B (equivalent to the championship in England). It was for the honour of the provinces.
That afternoon, Sunday the 10th, the local team Juventud Antoniana de Salta were facing off with Atletico Ledesma de Jujuy.
Both of them traditional teams in their provinces, but small teams, in comparison with the big guns from the capital Buenos Aires.
The regional rivalry between the two northern clubs, created much anticipation and it was the talk of the towns during the week leading to the game.
“No way those Jujenos will beat us” said the local supporters. Defeat in Salta was unthinkable.
Nobody imagined then what would transpire on match day.
With 5 minutes to go, things were all level at 2-2. Nobody at the stadium can believe that Ledesma are taking a point away from Salta.
At this point Aguero, a midfield for the visiting team has the ball, trying to slow play and run the clock down.
Suddenly, he decides to play a slide rule pass to the incoming Gustavo Gherbis, leaving him one on one with Vargas, the local keeper.
In front of the local supporters, he has no better idea than score a great goal.
Everyone is screaming for an offside, but the referee, seeing that his assistant did not raise his flag, validates the goal.
The stadium falls silent, amongst shocked faces and heart attacks, Gherbis celebrates what surely is the winner for his team.
If seconds ago, a draw was a bad result, losing against those “non existent jujenos” is unthinkable.
The local supporters begin to throw everything they can get their hands on onto the pitch.
Their main target is the Linesman, who did not “give that clear offside”
The man in question, remembering that day, says “with the local supporters behind me, of course I wanted their team to win 8-1, but what could I do if the Ledesma player was about 3 metres on side, all I remember is getting hit with a bottle in the back that took me down, and the referee had no choice but to stop the game”
As the referee and his assistants leave the pitch, they seek refuge inside their dressing room.
“Three young policemen were deployed in front of our door” continues the linesman. “I felt more sorry for them than for us, the were so pale and looked so scared”
“There and then, we began to hear the kicks to our door, singing threatening songs about how they were going to kill us”
But then the referee, Mr Pisapia, who was a policeman, had a surprise for everybody.
In the Linesman’s words “Pisapia, was a policeman, and like all of them has a 45 and must take it with him everywhere. As they kept kicking the door, it became apparent that they were going to break it any second. The referee then, very calmly, got his 45 out of his locker, and opened the door, pointing it to one of their heads. Only then they calmed down a little”
Gustavo Cil, one of the local team Strikers, says “we were in our dressing room, and we thought that they were going to kill the ref. When he tells us that he will restart the game, we could not believe it. Once we restarted I asked what the score was, and he said. Don’t worry I have chopped off their last goal, we are back at 2-2”
After 20 minutes of suspension, the game kicks off again, minus the linesman who has been replaced by the 4th official. I mean he had the courage to keep his flag down, but was not feeling suicidal enough to carry on.
The referee announces publicly that he has changed his mind about the goal, as there was a clear offside, and the score is still 2-2.
Pisapia restarts the game, and discretly tells Gonzales (the visitor’s captain) “ we will continue, as if I had chopped off that goal. The game has been officially suspended. Final score on my report will be 3-2 to you. We just need to pretend this is real in order to leave here alive”
So they play the last fictitious 5 minutes of the game, without incidents, and the locals (team and supporters) go home thinking they drew 2-2.
As he said. Pisapia reported the game suspended for rioting with 5 minutes to go, the result was 3-2 to the visiting team.
The result was confirmed by the football committee days later, but no sanctions were dished to the club or culprits of such acts.