Crítica
- THE ARGENTINES BEAT THE BOLIVIANS WITHOUT ANY EFFORT BY A HIGH SCORE
- BONIFACIO HAS REFUTED DR. CANTONI
- The Uruguayans returned today from Cauquenes
Crítica's page of 16 October 1926 followed the South American Football Championship in Santiago de Chile through Agencia Austral cables. The main report covered Argentina's opening match against Bolivia at Nuñoa. It said few spectators came despite cheaper tickets, because everyone took Bolivia's weakness for granted after its first defeat, and it presented the game as a test of the favourites' strength and of host Chile's chances. A second cable described a quarrel in the Chilean press: Bonifacio, writing in El Diario Ilustrado, said the Argentine delegation had joined the Uruguayans in opposing matches in Valparaíso, which contradicted statements by Drs. Cantoni and Gómez. The page also printed the two teams' line-ups and a short item saying Uruguay's squad had returned from three days of secluded, rigorous training at Cauquenes.
This is a partial reading of three Agencia Austral dispatches on the page. The excerpts include fragments of neighbouring items as they appear on the page: the end of the match report with a result table whose numbers are not legible, a weather item, and the team line-ups. Some areas could not be read: the left edge of the box on Bolivia's planned visit to San Bernardo, faded lines in Marini's first paragraph, and narrow column fragments beside the photographs. Photographs fill much of the middle and lower page. Names and numbers in clipped areas were not inferred.
Translation
THE ARGENTINES BEAT THE BOLIVIANS WITHOUT ANY EFFORT BY A HIGH SCORE
…by Cherro a… (Agencia Austral) SANTIAGO DE CHILE, 16. — The second match in the contest for the ninth South American Football Championship, held this afternoon on the Santa Lucía field, located in Nuñoa, drew a sparse crowd. To tell the truth, the only thing of interest in today's match was the appearance of the Argentine side, singled out as the most probable winner of the current tournament. There was absolute certainty that the Bolivians, after the display of scant strength they gave in their match last Sunday, were not rivals of any consequence for the Argentines. In the face of this certainty, the fans did not turn out in the numbers that might have been expected, even though ticket prices had been lowered. Nevertheless, the encounter had aroused a certain interest, and although all opinions agreed in predicting victory for the team from the Plata, people wanted to gauge its strength and to calculate, by means of today's result, the chances of the local eleven, which in its first appearance had won so ample and resounding a victory over the Bolivians.
The preliminary. At 16.10, Argentine time, … ended
BONIFACIO HAS REFUTED DR. CANTONI
…dez and the half Sains. The final result of the match was as follows: ARGENTINES BOLIVIANS
BONIFACIO HAS REFUTED DR. CANTONI
He maintains that the Argentine delegation acted in common agreement with the Uruguayan one regarding the venue
THE INCIDENT
(Agencia Austral) SANTIAGO DE CHILE, 16. — Mr. Bonifacio publishes a letter in the "Diario Ilustrado" refuting the views expressed by Dr. Gómez and Dr. Cantoni in Valparaíso, which were published in the newspaper "La Unión" of that port. The origin of the incident is that Doctors Cantoni and Gómez reportedly declared that they had not opposed some matches of the South American Football Championship being played in Valparaíso, while Mr. Bonifacio maintains that the Argentine delegation acted in common agreement with the Uruguayan delegates in the opposition.
The temperature has risen throughout the country. The high-pressure area has shifted toward the northwest and is located in the…
The Uruguayans returned today from Cauquenes
Argentines: Díaz; Bidoglio and Muttis; Médici, Vaccaro and Fortunato; Tarascone, Cherro, Sosa, Miguel and Delgado. Bolivians: Bermúdez; Larra and Sainz; Urrelagoitía, Jorge Soto and Val…
The Uruguayans returned today from Cauquenes
(Agencia Austral) SANTIAGO DE CHILE, 16. — The Uruguayans returned early this morning from Cauquenes, where they have spent three days. During this period they have been subjected to rigorous training, having kept entirely away from all kinds of public demonstrations and festivities.
Context
Venue and numbering of the 1926 championship
The dispatch calls the event the "ninth" South American Championship and places the match on "the Santa Lucía field, located in Nuñoa." Modern tournament records count the 1926 competition as the 10th championship for CONMEBOL members and state that all of its matches were held at the Estadio Sport de Ñuñoa in Santiago. CONMEBOL's own retrospective notes that it was the second championship staged in Chile. These records do not use the name Santa Lucía, so they cannot confirm how the paper's name for the ground relates to the recorded one. They do show, however, that the Argentina–Bolivia game was not moved anywhere special: the round-robin was played entirely at the one Ñuñoa ground. The sources also do not explain why the paper counts one edition fewer. The weak opposition the report takes for granted reflects the line-up of the tournament. Brazil withdrew before the start, leaving five teams, and Bolivia was taking part in the championship for the first time.
Argentina's 5–0 opener and how the tournament unfolded
The page's printed result table is not legible here, but tournament records give a 5–0 win on 16 October 1926 for Argentina, the defending champions after the 1925 edition. Cherro scored twice and Sosa, Delgado and De Miguel once each, all of them forwards named in the page's line-up. The "local eleven" whose chances observers wanted to measure was Chile, which had opened the tournament on 12 October by beating Bolivia 7–1 with four goals from David Arellano. Attendance figures compiled for Argentina's results give 5,000 for the Bolivia match, compared with 15,000 for Argentina's 0–2 defeat by Uruguay eight days later, which fits the report's complaint about a thin crowd. The report's confidence that Argentina was the likeliest winner was not borne out. Uruguay won all its matches and took the title, and Argentina finished as runner-up.
The Valparaíso venue dispute and the men named in it
The page reports only an exchange of letters. Drs. Cantoni and Gómez reportedly told Valparaíso's La Unión that they had not opposed playing some matches in that city. Bonifacio, in El Diario Ilustrado, insisted that the Argentine delegation had joined the Uruguayans in opposing the idea. The fetched records do not document the dispute itself, but they show how the venue question was settled: every 1926 match stayed in Santiago. The Valparaíso area had hosted the championship before. When Chile staged the 1920 edition, Argentina's matches were played at the Valparaiso Sporting Club in Viña del Mar, and 17,000 spectators attended its game against Uruguay. Sylvia Saitta's history of Crítica names a Dr. Aldo Cantoni. Helvio Botana's recollection, quoted by Saitta, credits him with giving San Juan's bloquismo movement, the work of his brother Federico, a social orientation, and says Cantoni was among the men who promoted Crítica's owner Natalio Botana for the presidency of the Argentine football association in 1926. These sources do not show that he was the Dr. Cantoni in Chile, and they say nothing about who Bonifacio and Gómez were.
Why Crítica covered the championship so heavily
Crítica was a fast-growing popular paper whose director, Natalio Botana, had made sport one of its main attractions. Saitta reports that the paper reached 145,000 copies a day in the early 1920s. Crítica was also the first Argentine newspaper to send a writer abroad with a football team. Its appeal to fans to see that team off described the players as carrying "so high a sporting and patriotic mission" overseas. In 1926 Botana's ties to the game became personal. He was elected president of the Asociación Argentina de Football on 27 February and resigned in August. At that time Argentine football was split between two bodies, the Asociación Argentina de Football and the Asociación Amateurs de Football. The Santiago reports on this page were credited to Agencia Austral, not to Crítica's own staff. The headline's claim that Argentina won "without any effort," however, belongs to the paper, and it echoes the way Crítica presented Argentine teams going abroad as carriers of national prestige.
What followed Uruguay's training retreat
The short Cauquenes item showed Uruguay preparing quietly while Argentina played. Uruguay opened its campaign the next day, 17 October, by beating Chile 3–1. On 24 October it beat Argentina 2–0, and on 1 November it defeated Paraguay 6–1 to finish unbeaten. Uruguay thus won its sixth South American title in the tournament in which the report on this page had named Argentina as favourite. The records consulted here do not mention the Cauquenes retreat, so they cannot show what effect it had on these results.
Original
LOS ARGENTINOS VENCEN A LOS BOLIVIANOS SIN NINGUN ESFUERZO POR ELEVADO SCORE
por Cherro a (Agencia Austral) SANTIAGO DE CHILE, 16. - El segundo match por la disputa del noveno Campeonato Sudamericano de Football, realizado esta tarde en el field de Santa Lucía, situado en Nuñoa, reunió a escasa concurrencia. A decir verdad, lo que sólo interesaba del match de hoy era la presentación del conjunto argentino, sindicado como el más probable vencedor en el actual torneo. Se tenía la absoluta seguridad de que los bolivianos, después de la demostración de escaso poderío de que dieron muestra en su match del domingo último, no eran rivales de consideración, para los argentinos. Ante esta certeza, los aficionados no concurrieron en el número que era de esperar, a pesar de que los precios de las entradas fueron rebajados. Sin embargo el encuentro había despertado cierto interés, y si bien todas las opiniones coincidían en vaticinar el triunfo del team del Plata, se deseaba aquilatar su poderío y calcular, por medio del resultado de hoy, la chance de eleven local, que en su primera presentación había obtenido tan amplio como rotundo triunfo sobre los bolivianos. El preliminarA las 16. 10, hora argentina, terminó
BONIFACIO HA REFUTADO AL DR. CANTONI
dez y el half Sains. El resultado final del match fué e siguiente: ARGENTINOS BOLIVIANOS BONIFACIO HA REFUTADO AL DR. CANTONI Sostiene que la delegación argentina obró de común acuerdo con la uruguaya respecto a la sede LA INCIDENCIA (Agencia Austral) SANTIAGO DE CHILE. - 16. - El señor Bonifacio publica una carta en el " Diario Ilustrado " refutando las apreciaciones hechas por el doctor Gómez y el doctor Cantoni en Valparaíso, y que fueron publicadas en el diario " La Unión " de ese puerto. El origen de la incidencia es que los doctores Cantoni y Gómez habrían declarado, que ellos no se habían opuesto a que algunos partidos del Campeonato Sudamericano de Football fuesen jugados en Valparaíso, mientras que el señor Bonifacio sostiene que la delegación argentina obró de común acuerdo con los delegados uruguayos en la oposición. La temperatura ha experimentado un ascenso en todo el país Al área de alta presión se ha corrido hacia el noroeste y se encuentra en el
Los uruguayos regresaron hoy de Cauquenes
Argentinos: Díaz; Bidoglio y Muttis; Médici, Vaccaro y Fortunato; Tarasco ne, Cherro, Sosa, Miguel y Delgado. Bolivianos: Bermúdez; Larra y Sainz; Urrelagoitía, Jorge Soto y ValLos uruguayos regresaron hoy de Cauquenes (Agencia Austral) SANTIAGO DE CHILE, 16. - Los uruguayos regresaron esta mañana temprano de Cauquenes, donde han pasado tres días. Durante este lapso, han estado sometidos a un riguroso entrenamiento, habiéndose alejado por completo de toda clase de manifestaciones y fiestas.
Source: Source: Internet Archive / Biblioteca Nacional de la República Argentina