Photo: Modificación_a_la_Ley_del_Donante_Universal.jpg: tu Foto con el Presidente derivative work: Warko / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Roberto Rojas, nicknamed El Cóndor, is one of the most cautionary tales in football history, and I can't look away from it. A talented Chilean goalkeeper, he engineered one of the sport's most infamous scandals: in a 1989 World Cup qualifier he faked an injury, reportedly cutting himself, to try to get the match annulled. The deception unraveled spectacularly, earning him a lifetime ban and costing Chile a World Cup. What strikes me is how a single desperate act can erase real ability. His ban was lifted in 2001, but the legend of the staged wound endures far beyond any save he made.
Overview
Roberto Antonio Rojas Saavedra (born 8 August 1957), nicknamed El Cóndor, is a retired Chilean football goalkeeper. In 1989, he was found to have deliberately injured himself during a World Cup qualifying match, reportedly in an attempt to have the match of the Chile national team annulled. The incident resulted in a lifetime ban for Rojas and one World Cup ban for Chile. His ban was subsequently lifted in 2001.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Roberto Rojas
- Name (Japanese)
- ロベルト・ロハス
- Reading
- ろべると・ろはす
- Born
- August 8, 1957 (age 68)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Leo / Rooster
- Origin
- Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- association football player / association football coach / beach soccer player
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Association football player — see all → · Association football coach — see all → · More people from Chile →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.