2024-04-10 19:40:13
There are enough examples in world history when battles on the football field provoked clashes between fans and other tragic events outside it. But only once, more than half a century ago, the most popular game became the reason for the start of a full-scale war between two Latin American states. The bone of contention was the 1970 World Cup qualifying match between El Salvador and Honduras. İdman.biz, with reference to Lenta.ru, presents detailed material about the causes, circumstances and consequences of the conflict, which went down in history under the name “Football War”.
“Some people think that football is a matter of life and death. I am completely disappointed with their position. I can assure you that football is much, much more important,” said legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly. This phrase, of course, did not refer to the war between El Salvador and Honduras, but it illustrates it perfectly.
To football
The crisis in relations between the two Central American countries, of course, did not begin with football. Back at the end of the 19th century, a territorial dispute broke out between neighbors, initiated by El Salvador. The fact is that the territory of Honduras is five times larger, but its population density was much less than that of its neighbor, which suffered from overpopulation. Until the end of the 1960s, this problem was solved quite simply: about 300 thousand citizens of El Salvador often lived in the border areas of Honduras without legal grounds and were mainly engaged in agriculture there.
By 1967, Honduras was mired in economic problems, and the country’s president, Osvaldo López Arellano, decided to begin to resolve them. The country’s leadership made those same Salvadoran migrants extreme: the government carried out a land reform, as a result of which the plots of guests from neighboring countries were nationalized, and the citizens of El Salvador living on them were strongly recommended to return to their homeland.
This proposal did not suit either the settlers themselves, who had already settled in their new place, or the leadership of El Salvador, which absolutely did not understand what to do with such a number of repatriates who were accustomed to engage exclusively in agriculture. There was simply no free land for them.
Until the beginning of 1969, the settlers managed to ignore the demands of the Honduran authorities, despite the growth of nationalist sentiment in the country, but then Arellano took decisive action. Specially created armed groups literally began hunting for migrants: they were raided, abducted, beaten, and sometimes ended in murder. This policy bore fruit, and tens of thousands of refugees flocked to El Salvador; some were forcibly deported by the Honduran authorities. The leadership of El Salvador was furious: the country’s President Fidel Sanchez Hernandez accused his neighbors of genocide and threatened to militarily annex the territories of Honduras where his compatriots lived.
From game to war
In parallel with these events, qualifying for the 1970 FIFA World Cup, which Mexico hosted, took place. The national team of this country, as the host of the tournament, directly qualified from the CONCACAF zone; 12 teams competed for the second spot from the confederation, among which were El Salvador and Honduras. The participants were divided into four groups, the winners advanced to a two-match semi-final, and then a ticket was played in the same two-match final.
The parties to the conflict won their groups and met in the semi-finals. This happened in the summer of 1969, at the height of the confrontation between the two countries. The first game took place in the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, on June 8. On the eve of the match, thousands of local fans sang songs and chanted offensive chants all night outside the hotel where the El Salvador players were staying, so that they could not sleep. However, the home team’s players also had problems sleeping. Marco Antonio Mendoza recalled how difficult it was for him and his partners on the eve of the confrontation.
“The press was constantly pumping, and we feared for our lives. Before the game, we probably didn’t sleep for three nights in a row” – Marco Antonio Mendoza, midfielder of the Honduras national team
In such an atmosphere, the intimidated players played a very lackluster match. The players of both teams were very afraid of making mistakes, and everything was going to the point that zeros would remain on the scoreboard. However, in the 90th minute of the game, Honduran national team striker Leonard Mivet took advantage of one of the few attacking chances and brought victory to the hosts. At the same moment, a fan from El Salvador, Emilia Bolaños, who was watching the game at home on TV, got up from the couch, took a gun from her father’s safe and took her own life. The tragic incident became public knowledge: the next morning, the country’s main newspaper, El Nacional, published the headline “She could not stand the shame of her country.”
Tens of thousands of people came to Bolaños’ funeral, including top officials of the state; for some reason the unfortunate girl became a symbol of hatred towards Honduras. Salvadorans brought hundreds of her portraits to the hotel where the Honduras players were staying before the return match, although this was the least of the troubles that plagued the visitors on that trip. The team moved around San Salvador under military and police escort, but this did not provide it with absolute safety.
“We went to the stadium like we were going to war. Everything they could get their hands on flew at us” – Carlos Padilla, head coach of the Honduras national team
On the football field, things also turned out disgustingly for Honduras: by the 41st minute the hosts were leading 3:0, after which they calmly brought the match to victory. Honduran fans reacted to this result with pogroms and violence against the migrants remaining in their country, while El Salvador announced a demonstrative mobilization of reservists into the army and broke off diplomatic relations with its neighbors.
Before the start of the war, the teams played one more match. According to the selection regulations, in the event of equality in victories in two matches, a decisive game was scheduled on a neutral field, which was hosted by Mexico on June 27. The country’s authorities herded thousands of police officers to the Azteca stadium in Mexico City, who managed to ensure law and order, preventing clashes between fans. The game itself turned out to be the brightest and most action-packed in the trilogy. Honduras went into the break with a lead, but in the second half El Salvador not only bounced back, but also snatched victory at the end of the match. Mauricio Rodriguez scored the decisive goal.
“For me, this goal will always be a source of sporting pride. I am sure that politicians and authorities simply took advantage of our sporting victory” – Mauricio Rodriguez, footballer of the El Salvador national team
Four days of massacre
Immediately after the game, Honduras broke off diplomatic relations with El Salvador, and in early July there were several shootouts on the border between soldiers of both countries. Things were heading towards a full-scale war, and it began on July 14. The armed forces of El Salvador, using American military aircraft from World War II, carried out air raids targeting strategic targets in Honduras, and also carried out a fairly successful ground operation, advancing eight kilometers deep into enemy territory and capturing several cities.
Honduras responded with an air raid on enemy oil storage facilities, carried out several successful counterattacks, and was able to stop the El Salvador advance. From the first hours of the war, the Organization of American States (OAS), led by the United States, intervened in the conflict, demanding that the Salvadorans immediately withdraw troops from foreign territory. A few days later, they finally heeded the demand: the offensive stalled due to a lack of fuel and ammunition, the OAS threatened sanctions that would destroy El Salvador’s faltering economy, but also promised to provide security for Salvadoran migrants living in Honduras.
The active phase of the war lasted four days, but hostilities ceased completely on July 20. According to various sources, they claimed the lives of from two to six thousand people, most of whom were civilians. The armed conflict caused serious damage to the economies of both countries; tens of thousands of refugees poured into El Salvador, which led to increased social tension and unemployment. Ultimately, a civil war began in the country in 1979, which lasted until 1992 and claimed the lives of more than 75 thousand people. The “Football War” did not bring anything good to Honduras either: the country suffered multimillion-dollar losses and is still in the second hundred of the world rankings in terms of key economic indicators.
Some of the surviving players from both teams still worry that they have become unwitting warmongers. Although it is obvious to almost everyone that football was just a convenient excuse for politicians.
“The war did not start because of our matches. It had purely political motives. It all just coincided with the qualifying games” – Mario Monge, footballer of the El Salvador national team
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After the victory over Honduras, the El Salvador team reached the qualifying final, where in a difficult three-game confrontation they defeated Haiti and received a ticket to the World Cup. In the final part of the tournament, the Salvadorans were in a group with the USSR, Mexico and Belgium. The team suffered three defeats, conceding nine goals and not scoring a single goal. In the game with Soviet football players, El Salvador was twice upset by Anatoly Byshovets.
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