Gabriel Gatehouse

A bit like Brazil, they've got a military dictatorship that a bit like Brazil is kind of supported by the Americans as a kind of bulwark against the spread of socialism in Latin America.

So this is one match that Argentina needs to win against Peru, and they need to win by four clear goals.

And just before the match starts, the Argentinian dictator, another general, General Videla, he marches into the bowels of the stadium and he goes into the dressing room, but not the Argentinian dressing room, right?

He goes into the Peruvian dressing room.

And he gives a speech.

And now what exactly he said has been disputed.

Some of the players, the Peruvian players, have alleged that he alternately either threatened them or offered bribes to Peru as a country if they were to perhaps not play at their best.

Now, this is disputed and there's no recording of the conversation.

What I think no one disputes is that Peru had an absolutely disastrous match, lost by six goals, and Argentina went on to win the competition.

Yeah, so this was a real surprise to me because I actually knew about Argentina in 1978 from early on when I started doing this, but I kind of dismissed it because it didn't seem to have an obvious CIA connection.

It was a sort of tangential.

But then I found out about this Kissinger thing.

So it is true that Kissinger was at the match.

Obviously, by 1978, Kissinger is no longer Secretary of State.

He's no longer in office.

He's a private citizen.

But, you know, Kissinger was kind of well known for his Machiavellian dark arts and supporting various dictatorships in Latin America.

Now, some of the Peruvian players have alleged that Kissinger came with General Videla in his little visit to the dressing room.

And after Videla had made his little speech, apparently, allegedly, Kissinger said, good luck.

And then off he went.