Soccer Wars

Last week's attack on the Togo national soccer team's bus in Angola resulted in the deaths of the driver, a press officer, and an assistant coach, and led to Togo's withdrawal from the Africa Cup of Nations. But the tragedy is hardly the first time that ugly political tension has invaded the beautiful game.

BY ANDREW SWIFT | JANUARY 13, 2010

The Football War

Year: 1969

Teams: Honduras, El Salvador

Damage done: Honduras and El Salvador battled in a three-leg World Cup qualifier playoff in June 1969 -- and went to war two weeks later in what is dubbed the Football War. Honduras already resented its neighbor by the late 1960s for the 300,000 illegal Salvadoran migrants who had passed into the country. In the spring of 1969, tensions reached new heights when Honduras began expelling many back over the border.

When the two teams met for a playoff, rampant fan violence -- in which several were killed -- caused media hysteria in both countries, leading to Honduras breaking off diplomatic relations on June 27. (Honduras won the first leg, 1-0, El Salvador triumphed in the second game, 3-0, and finally El Salvador qualified for the 1970 World Cup with a 3-2 win in neutral site Mexico.) On July 14, El Salvador initiated airstrikes on Honduran targets, and its army had invaded as far as 5 miles across the border the following day. Supply shortages halted the Salvadoran attack, and a cease-fire arranged by the Organization of American States came into effect July 20. All in all, 2,000 people were killed in the conflict, many of them Honduran civilians, and tens of thousands of Salvadorans were expelled from Honduras.

 SUBJECTS: SPORTS, WORLD CUP
 

Andrew Swift is an editorial researcher at Foreign Policy.

18SICAKVIDEO

3:44 PM ET

January 14, 2010

erotik video minik ku?lar

erotik video minik ku?lar güvercinler sex izleAdd to Technorati porno siki? Add to Technorati porno cine Carlos sex izle start erel porno izle ilanc?l?k ajans porno Televizyonlarhaberler Gazete Sitesi Günlük porno izle kaynaklar,ulusal sex izle gazeteler yabanc? tv izle little hard Results sicak video Computer Covers It's a siki? Pumares Quartknee sex create an Portal de porno izle and Online prefer to porno izle In my opinion, porno Turnstiles s siki? the only Billy Joel ah?ap kap? album that stands anlaml? sözler even with The Stranger sohbet as his magnum opus. erotik shop Liberty Devitto, who erotik shop would become the Billy TRCafe Joel band's permanent gazete oku drummer, was admitted in gazeteler time for this record. His power sicak video is clearly evident on "Say Goodbye muhabbet To Hollywood", Billy's au revoir to life in California mobilya A compelling ballad sex shop is found in "Summer, Highland sex izle Falls", written as creatively güzel sözler emotional as possible. sex shop A hit-and-miss was included sözlük on the album; this was the slow muhabbet and forgettable However, the rebuttal of amerikan kap? as Turnstiles' signature piece offers a wonderful amerikan kap? ah?ap kap? porno izle izle amerikan kap? canl? video site ekle sex porno izle video site ekle arama motoru mp3 indir arama motoru porno izle

 

C-TIPS

9:06 AM ET

January 19, 2010

Heysel?

While it was a tragedy, unlike the other examples it was hardly political unless you count the banning of English clubs (who had been dominating European competition) by Europeans who conveniently ignored their own violent fans. A better example might have been the Glasgow Rangers / Celtic rivalry reflecting the troubles in Northern Ireland, with fans split down sectarian lines, or the Italian 'Ultra' nationalist/socialist riots of the 70s.

 

ALAN MINOR

10:12 AM ET

January 19, 2010

Glaring Omissions

As C-TIPS hinted at above, there are a few glaring omissions in this list. In particle, there are three that come to mind for me that would fit in the category of politically contentious rivalries that have resulted in tragic incidents (on more than one occasion).

The first is the Old Firm rivalry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Firm) between Celtic and Rangers. The second is the Derby della Capitale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derby_della_capitale) between Lazio and Roma. And the third is the Superclasico (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superclasico) rivalry between Boca Juniors and River Plate.

You could also make an argument for the inclusion of the Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray rivalry.

 

OURMANINPANAMA

10:38 AM ET

January 19, 2010

This list is a joke

One-hundred percent agreed. Without Celtic and Rangers, this list a complete joke. Even a scant amount of familiarity with the modern game (the Madrid rivalry looks like an episode of Sesame Street compared to the ones ALAN MINOR mentioned) would have produced a vastly different list. May I also mention West Ham-Millwall, in light of the pitch invasion (three times!) during their game last year.

 

WGABB

1:46 PM ET

January 19, 2010

Celtic - Rangers

An absolute must for any rivalries list.

To quote Wikipedia "The competition between the two clubs has roots in more than just a simple sporting rivalry. It is infused with a series of complex disputes, sometimes centred on religion (Catholic and Protestant) and Northern Ireland-related politics (Loyalist and Republican). " Other rivalries such as Liverpool and Everton have similar roots but the Scottish rivalry is the granddaddy of them all.