When football is nothing but total war

Soccer is an emotive sport. It invokes passion, almost like love. It is intense and can be as heated as hatred. A combination of these two emotions can be explosive and easily lead to hostility among fans.

In one case, it sparked the first ‘Soccer War’ between two countries, leading to the marshaling of tanks, bombs and other military ordinances by the opposing soldiers. That war was between Honduras and El-Salvador, following the qualifying matches for the 1970 World Cup  in Mexico that ignited the ‘100 Hour War,’ whose effects lasted for decades.

Here is what happened in 1969, a year to the World Cup:

El Salvador visited Honduras for an away match for the first qualifying game. While there, Honduran fans camped outside their hotel causing a ruckus with metal sheets, exploding fire crackers, throwing stones, chanting and screaming the whole night.

A sleepless El Salvador side painfully lost 1-0 in extra time to the home team the following day. El Salvadorian female soccer fan Amelia Bolanios, 18, committed suicide by shooting herself with her dad’s pistol after the match.

Her burial was attended by the president and broadcast on TV, galvanising hatred against Honduras who were to visit for a return leg.

The Honduran players were given dose of their own medicine as El Salvadorians avenged with song, dance and throwing dead rats into their hotel.

They had to move and spend the night in their embassy, from where they were escorted under tight security in armoured cars by the army to the stadium. Drama unfolded as El Salvador hoisted a ‘gunia’ instead of the Honduran flag when their national anthem was played.

Honduras lost 3-0.

The third play-off match was played in neutral Mexico. El Salvador won 3-2 in extra time. Diplomatic ties were immediately broken.

In reaction, Honduran fans evicted over 17,000 immigrants back to El Salvador. The media did not help matters. One newspaper advised, “El Salvador should civilise Honduras by force.” On July 14, 1969, three El Salvadoran fighter aircrafts entered Honduran airspace, followed by the army advancing towards the capital, Tegucigalpa. In retaliation, the Honduran air force bombed oil refineries and major power stations in El Salvador, causing a countrywide black out.

Over 3,000 people died with more than 100,000 being displaced as Ryszard Kapuscinski informs us in his 1992 book, The Soccer War. And how did El Salvador fair in the 1970 World Cup after all the hassle? Well, they never won a single match and conceded nine goals in the preliminary round!