1- Event:
The
wife and children of Argentinean defender Oswaldo Piazza involved in a car
accident on April 8, 1978.
Consequence:
On
April 6, 1978, Oswaldo Piazza arrived in Argentina after his French club Saint
Etienne had granted his request to join Argentina training camp in time to be
included for the World Cup Finals squad.
Two
days later, due to the accident he had to go back to France.
He
missed out on the chance to become a World Cup Champion on home soil.
 |
Photo
From: Mondial, old series, issue 25, December 1978
(Oswaldo Piazza with Saint Etienne, 1978) |
2- Event:
The
Falklands War between Great Britain and Argentina in the spring of 1982.
Consequence:
The
disastrous tour of South America by the Republic of Ireland national Team.
The
Republic of Ireland had arranged a match vs. Argentina and initially the FAI
had no objections to the match, however political pressure and the refusal of
many English clubs (as well as the players themselves) to release their Irish
Internationals forced the FAI to drop the match.
The
tour still went ahead, but only 15 players were available as the English based
players had left on tours of their own with their respective clubs and the
League of Ireland squad was touring New Zealand around the same time.
With
a weakened side, Ireland succumbed to defeats to Chile (0 to 1) on May 21, 1982
and a heavy loss to Brazil (0 to 7) on May 27, 1982.
To
make matters worse the money owed to the players at the start of the tour had
still not been paid.
The
mood within the camp was so negative that Liam Brady threatened to leave and
return to Italy after the Brazil match.
In
fact he initially stayed in Brazil to return home, while the rest of the
squad traveled to Trinidad.
Assistant
manager Terry Conroy had to stay behind to convince Brady to change his mind.
Ireland
Manager Eion Hand threatened to resign unless the players were fully paid which
was eventually done.
A
third match was hastily arranged vs. Trinidad and Tobago on May 30th,
but a dejected Ireland lost that match as well (1 to 2).
 |
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 19, October 1981
(Juventus based Liam Brady, one of the only top
level Ireland players available for the disappointing South American tour of
1982) |
3- Event:
Allan
Simonsen’s injury collision with France’s Yvon Le Roux on June 12, 1984.
Consequence:
Allan
Simonsen had been Denmark’s most famous player in the Seventies due to his
exploits with Borussia Moenchengladbach and had even been France Football’s
European Player of the year in 1977 and later joined Barcelona.
Due
to the fact that Denmark was still not a footballing power his achievements had
mainly been at the club level.
Now
nearing the end of his career he got an unexpected chance to appear in a major
Finals Tournament with his National team when a new generation of Danish stars
plus Simonsen qualified to the UEFA European Championships in 1984. However,
during the very first match vs. France on June 12, 1984 (1 to 0 France win), he
was seriously injured in a collision with French defender Yvon Le Roux and
missed the rest of the tournament.
In
fact he was out injured for many months and once back was never the same
player. He was included in Denmark’s 1986 World Cup Finals squad but in a
peripheral role and retired shortly afterwards.
 |
Photo
From: L’Annee du Football, 1984
(Allan
Simonsen and Yvon Le Roux after the collision, June 12, 1984, European Championships, France 1-Denmark 0 )
|
 |
Photo
From: Guerin Sportivo, June 20-26, 1984
(Allan Simonsen being stretchered off, June 12,
1984, European
Championships, France 1-Denmark 0 ) |
4- Event:
France
National team tying (one to one) with Cyprus in a World Cup Qualifier on
October 22, 1988.
Consequence:
With
World Cup Qualification in jeopardy with the accompanying loss of revenue,
Bordeaux President Claude Bez, convinced French Federation President Jean
Fournet-Fayard to replace Manager Henri Michel with former star Michel Platini.
Henri
Michel was dismissed on November 1, 1988.
Michel
Platini, with no coaching experience, had only retired as a player about a year
before.
Gérard Houllier was also named as his assistant.
 |
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 105, november december 1988
(Michel Platini’s first press conference as
National Team Manager on November 3, 1988, left to right: Assistant Coach
Gérard Houllier, Michel Platini, Federation President Jean Fournet-Fayard,
Bordeaux President Claude Bez) |
5- Event:
Chilean
goalkeeper Roberto Rojas (‘El Condor’) feigning an injury during a World Cup
Qualifier vs. Brazil on September 3, 1989 that Brazil was winning one to zero.
This
led the Chile squad to walkout during the match.
Consequence:
During
the match a firecracker from the stands landed near Rojas. Rojas immediately
fell down and held his face as if the object hit him.
His
teammates came near him, as did the team doctor. As he was being ‘treated’, the
doctor poured Mercurochrome on him to give the impression that the object had
bloodied him.
Clearly
the purpose was to fake an injury to have the result overturned in Chile’s
favor.
The
Chilean players carried Rojas out and refused to play and walked out.
After
a few minutes the referee ended the match.
Photos
clearly revealed the trickery and Chile and Rojas were punished.
On
December 8, 1989, FIFA handed out the sentences for Chile’s walkout.
Chile
was to be excluded from the 1994 World Cup.
International
bans were handed out against Chile Coach Orlando Aravena and player Fernando
Astengo for leading the team out of pitch.
Roberto
Rojas was banned for life for his trickery attempt by feigning injury.
Incidentally,
it was former Brazilian Manager Tele Santana that gave a lifeline to Rojas’
tattered career by appointing him as São Paulo Futebol Clube’s goalkeeping
coach in 1994.
The
person who threw the firecracker was 23-year-old Rosemary Mello. She later
posed for the Brazilian Edition of Playboy to pay the fine.
 |
Photo
From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 71, December 1994
(The
instant of firecracker landing near Rojas)
|
 |
Photo
From: Foot Magazine, October 1989
(Photos
that appeared at Brazil’s Placar Magazine, showing the trickery)
|
 |
Photo
From: Calcio 2000, Issue 25, December 1999
(Rojas
holding his face in apparent pain)
|
 |
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 2265, September 5, 1989
(Chilean players carrying out Rojas) |
