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whom were illegally adopted by military fam-
ilies and “friends” of the junta.
During 1978’s World Cup, guards would
play match commentaries on the radio, some
forcing the prisoners to cheer and sing along.
For some victims, the football was at least
a temporary distraction from their plight. For
others, the cheers from the nearby stadium
clearly audible through the walls, it was a dev-
astating realisation that the world was going
on without them. hey knew that with every
goal, the dictatorship that brought them here
was geting stronger.after the groups, the knock-out phase
is when the World Cup is said to properly
begin. Except in 1978 there was no such
phase. he favoured format saw the top two
teams of each group divided into two further
groups, with the winners of each then meet-
ing in the final. Holland, Italy, West Germany
and in-form Austria made up Group A, while
Argentina, Peru, Poland and Brazil had the
easier task of Group B.
As Holland took control of Group A, with
Italy and West Germany tiring, it was between
Argentina and Brazil for the other berth. he
two teams had already played out a goalless
draw, and the final round of games saw Brazil
take on Poland in the aternoon and Argentina
play Peru in the much cooler evening. Was
it just a happy accident that the hosts knew
exactly what they needed to do following
Brazil’s 3-1 win? A 4-0 win and they were in
the final. Peru had no hope of qualifying so
were playing for pride, though only in name
as it turned out.
Peru started strongly enough, even hiting
the post, but a rapid and, to many observers,
abject capitulation followed. Argentina scored
six to no reply by the final whistle, against the
same Peru that had thrashed Scotland and
Iran, and held the Dutch to a nil-nil draw, in
their opening group games.
Brazil’s manager called it a disgrace.
Peru’s goalkeeper, Ramón Quiroga, born in
Argentina, wrote an open letter defending
his team’s honour. Years later, a Peruvian sen-
ator would claim that the match result was
fixed thanks to a deal between the two South
American dictatorships involving political
prisoners, money and grain.
The murky picture was muddied fur-
ther when it was revealed former US secre-
tary of state Henry Kissinger, both a football
fan and tacit supporter of the junta regime,
joined General Videla on a pre-match parade
that is said to have included a visit to the
Peru dressing room. It has been claimed that
Videla impressed on the Peruvian players
just how important this tournament was to
Argentina, while stressing the value of “Latin
American solidariy”.Top: army troops loyal to the country’s hardline military junta were constantly on patrol at all public gatherings in Argentina
Centre: the Navy Petty-Officers School of Mechanics, a secret detention centre in Buenos Aires, where more than 4,850 died
→ Bottom: Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo, aka ‘Mothers of the Disappeared’, have sought justice for kidnapped children since 1977Esquire — June 2018 91