Diario La Nación
- Our Fans Will Welcome the Guests at the Estación del Norte
- The Reception of the Delegations in Los Andes
- The Players in Camp Continue Their Training
Santiago's La Nación of 5 October 1926 gave its front page to the eve of the South American football championship. The paper announced that the city's sporting public would greet the visiting delegations, which it called friendly 'Embassies', at the Estación del Norte that night, and added its own warm welcome to the guests. A follow-up item reported that the town of Los Andes, at the Chilean end of the railway over the Andes, was preparing an enthusiastic reception for the sporting Embassies 'from the Atlantic'. A short note in another column said the players the Chilean Football Federation had gathered in camp at the El Llano Stadium were still training for their fixture.
Translation
Our Fans Will Welcome the Guests at the Estación del Norte
[…] The whole sporting public of Santiago is preparing to give the gallant members of the friendly Embassies its cordial welcome tonight at the Estación del Norte. For La Nación, which voices the general feeling of the followers of the favorite sport, it is also especially gratifying to extend to the distinguished guests the most affectionate greeting of welcome.
The reception of the delegations in Los Andes
The people of Los Andes are getting ready with full enthusiasm to give a warm demonstration of affection to the Embassies […]
The Reception of the Delegations in Los Andes
For La Nación, which voices the general feeling of the followers of the favorite sport, it is also especially gratifying to extend to the distinguished guests the most affectionate greeting of welcome.
The reception of the delegations in Los Andes
The people of Los Andes are getting ready with full enthusiasm to give a warm demonstration of affection to the sporting Embassies from the Atlantic that are com- […]
The Players in Camp Continue Their Training
[…] The players whom the Football Federation has in camp at the El Llano Stadium have continued their training so as to perform efficiently in the match which, according to the fixture drawn up by the govern- [?] […]
Context
The championship Santiago was preparing to host
The welcome described on this page was for the 1926 South American Championship, the tenth edition of the tournament now known as the Copa América. Chile hosted it, and the competition ran from 12 October to 3 November 1926, so the paper was writing a week before the opening match. Brazil withdrew before the start, which left five teams: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Every match was played at the Estadio Sport de Ñuñoa in Santiago. The paper's note that the Chilean players were in camp at the El Llano Stadium refers to where they trained, not to the tournament venue. One of the 'Embassies' greeted with such ceremony, Uruguay, went on to win the tournament, taking its sixth title after beating Paraguay 6–1 in its last match.
Héctor Rivadavia Gómez and the confederation behind the tournament
The friendly 'Embassies' arriving in Santiago came to a competition run by the South American football confederation, an organisation that owed its existence largely to the Uruguayan journalist, politician and football official Héctor Rivadavia Gómez. He first proposed the idea of a South American football confederation. It became a practical project during the first South American championship in Buenos Aires in 1916, when football leaders of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay met on 9 July to study his idea. Gómez became the confederation's creator and first president, and later its honorary president. In the 1920s he was also active in Uruguayan politics and represented Montevideo as a Colorado Party deputy from 1923 to 1926. The excerpts translated here do not name him, but the cordial language of 'friendly Embassies' fits the cooperative idea behind the confederation he had proposed.
Why the guests were greeted first at Los Andes
The paper's separate item on Los Andes makes sense in light of the Transandine Railway. The metre-gauge line ran from Mendoza in Argentina across the Andes to Santa Rosa de Los Andes in Chile, and the whole route opened to traffic in 1910. At Las Cuevas, at almost 3,200 metres, trains entered the Cumbre tunnel, about 3.2 kilometres long, on the international border. A journey from Buenos Aires to Valparaíso took about 36 hours and required changes of train at Mendoza and Los Andes because of the different track gauges. By sea, the same trip around Cape Horn took eleven days. Los Andes was therefore the first Chilean town where travellers from the Atlantic side changed trains, which is why, as the paper reports, the people of Los Andes were preparing to receive the 'sporting Embassies from the Atlantic' before the evening welcome in Santiago. The crossing could also be difficult, because trains sometimes got stuck in snow and passengers were stranded for days.
Original
NUESTROS AFICIONADOS DARAN LA BIENVENIDA A LOS HUESPEDES EN LA ESTACION DEL NORTE.
tballers argentinos clusivaedición 11. 10 ital los ue forNUESTROS AFICIONADOS DARA LOS HUESPEDES EN LA ESTAC Todo el pueblo deportista de Santiago se prepara para tributar esta noche, en la Estación del Norte, su cordial bienvenida a los gallardos componentes de las Embajadas amigas. Para " La Nación ", que interpreta el sentir general de los aficionados al deporte predilecto, es también especialmente grato hacer llegar hasta los distinguidos huéspedes el más afectuoso saludo de bienvenida. La recepción de las delegaciones en Los Andes El pueblo de Los Andes se apresta con todo entusiasmo para hacer una cariñosa demostración de afecto a las Embajadas
La recepción de las delegaciones en Los Andes
Para " La Nación ", que interpreta el sentir general de los aficionados al deporte predilecto, es también especialmente grato hacer llegar hasta los distinguidos huéspedes el más afectuoso saludo de bienvenida. La recepción de las delegaciones en Los Andes El pueblo de Los Andes se apresta con todo entusiasmo para hacer una cariñosa demostración de afecto a las Embajadas deportivas del Atlántico que vie -
Los concentrados siguen su entrenamiento
aguero ue por rde se mbajaot-Ball misión icial a Los concentrados siguen su entrenamiento Los jugadores que la Federación de Foot-Ball tiene concentrados en el Estadio El Llano, han seguido su entrenamiento para actuar en forma eficiente en el match que según el fixture confeccionado por la dirigent [?] SILLON LUNET SILLON SILLON LUNETA SILLON LUNETA ANFITE GALERI ENTRA [?] Las Bomber [?] 6 1 | 2 P. LA PRIM
Source: Source: Internet Archive