 Two Italian journalists had written unflattering articles about the host country and its capital city; describing Santiago as a "proudly backwards and poverty-stricken dump full of prostitution and crime".Although only two players (both of them Italian) were sent off by the English referee Ken Aston, the match saw repeated attempts from players on both sides to harm opponents, and the Italian team needed police protection to leave the field in safety.Articles in the Italian papers "La Nazione" and "Corriere della Sera" were saying that allowing Chile to host the World Cup was "pure madness"; this was used and magnified by local newspapers to inflame the Chilean population.