The Battle of Belfast was a gray event when the Italian clashed with the Northern Ireland in the 1958 world cup qualifier.
Called the Battle of Belfast because of the physical clash between the Italian squad and the Northern Irish squad that occurred in Belfast, December 4, 1957.
The impact of the Battle of Belfast was: Italy was eliminated for the first time from the world cup, on the other Northern Ireland was also able to appear in the 4th annual event for the first time.
This problem began when a thick fog blanketed the city of London which prevented the Hungarian referee, Istvan Zsolt, from flying to England.
Zslot's replacement, Arthur Ellis from England, was also unable to come for the same reason. So, Northern Ireland offered a local referee, but Italy refused.
Finally it was agreed, the match was demoted from a world cup qualifier to a friendly. Meanwhile, the qualifying match itself was rescheduled a month later.
The 40,000 crowd at Windsor Park was furious. They had hoped for a world cup match, but what they were about to see turned out to be a friendly match.
The harassment from the stands began when both teams took to the field. national anthem Italian .
Italy under the tutelage of coach Alfredo Foni plays hard football techniques. They brutally beat and tackled the Northern Irish .
's Juan Schiaffino Italy beat Ireland's Wilbur Cush. However, Cush did not immediately respond. Moments later, then Cush hit back hard Schiaffino. The atmosphere became hot.
As Napoli goalkeeper Ottavio Bugatti lay on the ground, Chiapella kicked Billy McAdam in the back. The audience who had been annoyed from the start was getting more and more emotional.
The match ended in a 2-2 draw, but the problem was not over. The crowd rushed onto the pitch as soon as the whistle sounded, and they attacked the Italian .
However, there was a tunnel in Windsor and the Italian were saved there. Several people tried to break into it, but in the end the Italians managed to leave Northern Ireland safely.
This commotion in Windsor Park became known as the Battle of Belfast (which would later be followed by the Battle of Santiago).
In this qualifying match, Italy actually only needed a draw to qualify for Sweden, because previously they had beaten Portugal 3-0. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland needs a win.
The rematch was held at Windsor Park again on 15 January 1958. This time Italy had to admit Northern Ireland 's 1-2 lead, which saw them fail to qualify for the world cup for the first time.
other hand, Northern Ireland traveled to Sweden to participate in the world cup final for the first time as well.
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