Roberto Rojas

For the Spanish footballer, see Roberto Rojas (Spanish footballer).

For the Peruvian footballer, see Roberto Rojas (Peruvian footballer).

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Rojas and the second or maternal family name is Saavedra.

Roberto Rojas

Personal information
Full name	Roberto Antonio Rojas Saavedra
Date of birth	August 8, 1957 (1957-08-08)
Place of birth	Santiago, Chile
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	Aviación
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1976–1982	Aviación
1983–1987	Colo-Colo
1987–1989	São Paulo	17	(0)
National team
1983–1989	Chile	49	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Roberto Antonio "Cóndor" Rojas Saavedra (born August 8, 1957 in Santiago) is a retired Chilean football goalkeeper. He is best known for a 1989 on-the-field incident in which he deliberately injured himself in an attempt to avoid a loss by the Chilean national team. The incident resulted in a lifetime ban for Rojas and one World Cup ban for Chile.

Career

Rojas was born and raised in Chile. He began his career in 1976 with the Chilean club Aviación. Rojas would go on the play for Colo-Colo from 1983 until 1987. With Colo-Colo, Rojas won national titles in 1983 and 1986. In 1987, after a successful performance in the Copa América 1987 championship, he transferred to Brazil's São Paulo where he remained until 1989. After his retirement he returned to São Paulo to serve as a goalkeeper coach, training club legend Rogério Ceni. In 2003 Rojas served as interim coach and took the team to the Copa Libertadores for the first time since 1994. He is currently a goalkeeper coach for Brazilian side Sport Club do Recife.

1989 World Cup Qualifying Incident

In 1989, Rojas was in goal for Chile's 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Brazil at Rio de Janeiro's Maracanã stadium. Chile, down 1-0, would be eliminated from the upcoming World Cup had they lost. Around the 70-minute mark, Rojas fell to the pitch writhing and holding his forehead. A firework, thrown from the stands by a Brazilian fan named Rosemary de Mello, was smoldering about a yard away. Rojas had deliberately cut himself with a razor hidden in his glove to attempt to get the match thrown out and possibly have Brazil penalized by FIFA. Rojas, his head bloodied, was carried off the field; his teammates then refused to return claiming conditions were unsafe. The match went unfinished.

Patricio Yáñez

During Condor Rojas dramatization, his fellow teammate, Patricio Yáñez under the frustration of believing his team was part of a huge unfairness he performed a gesture against the Brazilian fans, by holding his sexual organ with both his hands and slightly bend his middle body towards the front, in representation of a sexual intercourse. The moment was captured by Chilean national television, and as years have passed, the offensive gesture, when repeated or remembered is known as a "Pato Yáñez".

Video-evidence later showed that Rojas had not been hit by the firework. His head injury was discovered to have been self-inflicted with a razor blade hidden in his glove. FIFA awarded Brazil a 2-0 win, effectively eliminating Chile from the 1990 World Cup. As a consequence, Chile was banned from the 1994 FIFA World Cup and Rojas was banned for life, along with coach Orlando Aravena and team doctor Daniel Rodriguez.

A Chilean inquiry found that Aravena had ordered Rojas and Rodriguez by walkie-talkie to remain on the ground and that Rojas was to leave the field on a stretcher. Team co-captain Fernando Astengo was banned from football for the next five years for deciding to pull the team from the field.

In 2001, following a request for pardon, Rojas' ban was lifted by FIFA.

References

• Roberto Rojas at National-Football-Teams.com
• playerhistory