In the 67th minute, Chilean goalkeeper Roberto Rojas, nicknamed El Condor, fell to the ground, bleeding, having apparently been hit by a flare thrown by Brazilian fans. The next day, television images and several photos revealed that the flare had not hit Rojas, but landed over a metre away. After questioning, Rojas confessed to having cut himself with a razor blade hidden in one of his gloves, as part of a plot to nullify the result of the game and have Brazil thrown out of the World Cup. Ten days after the game, FIFA banned Rojas from professional football for life.
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But the mystery hadn’t been settled. Had a Brazilian thrown the firecracker? And how did the wound on the forehead arise? The first question was soon solved. It had been thrown by a Brazilian, a 24-year-old woman by the name of Rosenery Mello. After she was named in the press, she became a minor celebrity, leading to a cover pose in the November 1989 Brazilian edition of Playboy and the nickname “Maracana Rocket”.
Mougham/Football, 2023
THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT 
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