 While Chilean society was living in a "footballized" atmosphere, Alessandri was criticized for his cold attitude towards the tournament, which forced his ministers to come out and claim he was as "footballized" as everybody else, but was too busy to devote too much attention to the competition.The competition was marred by constant violence on the pitch.This poisonous atmosphere culminated in the first-round match between host Chile and Italy (2–0), known as the "Battle of Santiago".