Diario La Nación
- His Excellency the President of the Republic Arrives
- The Bolivians Open the Scoring
- Music and Flags
La Nación's sports pages of 13 October 1926 covered the previous day's opening match of the South American Championship, Chile against Bolivia at the Ñuñoa stadium in Santiago. The readable passages describe a pre-match ceremony in which a bouquet tied with both nations' ribbons was handed to Arellano and the eleven pairs of players embraced, and the arrival of the President of the Republic with Foreign Minister Antonio Huneeus and senior officials of the foreign and war ministries. A running match report recounts how Aguilar, fed by Méndez after an Alborta corner, gave Bolivia the lead after four minutes, and praises the visitors' early play. A shorter note credits the police with managing traffic on Avenida Irarrázaval and the crowds, while flags of many nations decorated the cement grandstands.
This reading covers three passages from La Nación's sports pages of 13 October 1926: the pre-match ceremony and the President's arrival, the account of Bolivia's opening goal, and a note on police and flags. The first passage begins mid-sentence and breaks off during the list of officials. The second opens with a stray fragment, 'HIL ENOS', probably from a heading, which is not translated, and ends at an illegible word. The left-gutter columns are curved and cut off, and several right-hand columns are cut mid-word. The 'El preliminar' passage was not transcribed because the hour in its first line is unclear. The passages read do not include the final score. The supplied OCR misdates the issue to 12 October, but the page image shows 13 October 1926.
Translation
His Excellency the President of the Republic Arrives
…handing Arellano a bouquet of flowers with the ribbons of both countries intertwined, and the two then embraced. The players followed their captains' example, while the public applauded the eleven fraternal embraces.
His Excellency the President of the Republic Arrives
Moments before the match began, the President of the Republic arrived at the Stadium, accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Antonio Huneeus; by the Under-Secretaries of that Ministry and of the Ministry of War, Mr. Miguel Luis Rocuanto and General Díaz, respectively; by the…
The Bolivians Open the Scoring
…a difficult situation for the national goal, which Sánchez saves by conceding another corner.
The Bolivians Open the Scoring
The Bolivians' pressure becomes ever more dangerous, and Veloso is forced to give away another corner kick, which Alborta delivers impeccably. The ball is taken by Méndez, who at once passes to Aguilar, a player who from four metres out fires a shot that Hill could not manage to stop. The scoring had been opened at four minutes of play, amid general anticipation. At this stage of the game, the visiting side makes a favourable impression. One can clearly see [?]
Music and Flags
Our police played a leading role yesterday afternoon in duly organizing the traffic on Avenida Irarrázaval and the flow of the public in front of the Stadium, as well as in keeping proper order inside it.
Music and Flags
Above both cement grandstands countless flags of various nations could be seen, which helped to enhance the spectacle, completing the beautiful setting offered by the Ñuñoa Stadium.
Context
A five-nation tournament concentrated at the Ñuñoa sports fields
The match described on this page opened the 1926 South American Championship, which Chile hosted from 12 October to 3 November. Brazil withdrew before the start, so only five of CONMEBOL's six members took part, and every match was played at the Estadio Sport de Ñuñoa in Santiago. The ground, also known as the Campos de Sports de Ñuñoa, stood on land that José Domingo Cañas donated to the State in 1918, and it served as the home of the Chile national team until the current Estadio Nacional opened in 1938. With a whole continental tournament staged at a single venue, the opening day brought officials, foreign delegations and crowds to one place. That helps explain why La Nación gave a paragraph to police control of traffic on Avenida Irarrázaval and of the crowds at the gates, and why it described the two cement grandstands, dressed in the flags of many nations, as the setting of an international occasion.
Chile's first international victory and the captains' embrace
The ceremony at the start of the first excerpt centred on Chile's captain, David Arellano, the Colo-Colo idol, and, according to a 2016 retrospective by EnCancha, Bolivia's captain Rafael Méndez. La Nación presented the bouquet bound with both nations' ribbons and the eleven embraces between the teams as a fraternal scene, followed moments later by the arrival of the President with the Foreign Minister and the under-secretaries of the foreign and war ministries. For the hosts the match carried real weight. Chile won 7–1, with four goals from Arellano, and EnCancha describes the result as the first victory in the history of a Chilean national team, after 32 matches without a win. For Bolivia the tournament went badly: it finished last without a point, scoring two goals and conceding 24 in four matches. The paper's praise for the visitors' early play therefore records a brief moment before the scoreline turned decisively against them.
Conflicting records of Bolivia's goal
La Nación's running account states that Aguilar, served by Méndez after a corner from Alborta, opened the scoring after four minutes with a shot from four metres that the Chilean goalkeeper Hill could not stop. Later reconstructions disagree on when this goal came. EnCancha's 2016 article also has Teófilo Aguilar putting Bolivia ahead, but at three minutes, before Chile equalised and pulled away. The RSSSF match record instead lists Chile's first four goals before half-time and places Aguilar's goal in the 62nd minute, making the score 5–1. The players the paper names, including Hill and the defender Veloso, match the RSSSF line-up, which also gives the attendance as 12,000, against EnCancha's 8,560. A report written by a journalist who watched the game is strong evidence that Bolivia scored first, and it shows that statistical tables compiled decades later can misplace a goal in the sequence of a match. RSSSF also records that Chile's fifth goal, by Moreno, was the first goal scored directly from a corner in the South American Championships.
La Nación in 1926: a liberal daily with a popular sports section
La Nación was founded on 14 January 1917 by a group of liberal parliamentarians led by Eliodoro Yáñez, and within its first ten years it became one of the most widely read newspapers in Chile. Its foreign news and sports sections enjoyed great popularity with the public, which fits the treatment seen on this page: a match followed moment by moment, broken up by subheads such as "The Bolivians open the scoring", alongside short notes on the police, music and flags. In October 1926 the paper was still privately owned. Its independent phase was nearing its end, however: in 1927 the Ibáñez dictatorship expropriated La Nación and made it the official organ of the Chilean state. The account of the President and his ministers at the stadium was therefore written by a liberal commercial daily, before the paper became a government showcase.
Original
Llega S. E. el Presidente de la República
tregando a Arellano un ramillete de flores con las cintas de ambos países entrelazadas, abrasándose ambos en seguida. Los jugadores siguieron el ejemplo de sus capitanes, mientras el público aplaudía los once abrazos fraternales. Llega S. E. el Presidente de la República Momentos antes de iniciarse el partido llegó al Estadio el Presidente de la República, acompañado del Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, señor Antonio Huneeus; de los Sub-Secretarios de este Ministerio y del de Guerra, señores Miguel Luis Rocuanto y general Díaz, respectivamente; del
Los bolivianos abren la cuenta
HIL ENOS tuación difícil a la valla nacional, que salva Sánchez concediendo otro corner. Los bolivianos abren la cuenta La presión de los bolivianos se hace cada vez más peligrosa, viéndose obligado Veloso a provocar otro puntapié esquina que sirve Alborta en forma impecable. El balón es tomado por Méndez, el que en el acto cede a Aguilar, jugador que desde cuatro metros del arco enfila un tiro que Hill no alcanzó a detener. Se había abierto la cuenta a los cuatro minutos de juego, en medio de la espectación general. A esta altura del juego, el elenco visitante impresiona favorablemente. Se nota mucho [?]
Música y banderas
Nuestra policía desempeñó papel preponderante en la tarde de ayer al organizar en debida forma el tránsito de la Avenida Irarrázaval, la afluencia de público frente al Estadio, como también al hacer guardar el debido orden dentro de él. Música y banderas Sobre ambas tribunas de cemento se advertían infinidad de banderas de diversas naciones, lo que contribuyó a dar realce al espectáculo, completando el hermoso marco que ofrecía el Estadio de Ñuñoa.
Source: Source: Internet Archive