The curtain has fallen on the life of one of the most prominent legends in the history of Argentine football, after the Argentine Football Association announced the passing of the historic star Antonio Rattin, who died at the age of 89, leaving behind a football legacy filled with achievements and stances that shaped the features of the beautiful game's history on a global level.
The Argentine Association published an official obituary statement in which it described Rattin as one of the immortal symbols that engraved their name in letters of gold in the records of the national team and the prestigious Boca Juniors club, where he participated in representing the Argentine colors during the two World Cup editions in Chile in 1962, and England in 1966, in an era that witnessed the rise of the Argentine football star on the international stage.
Rattin, who specialized in the defensive midfielder position, was known for his solid fighting style and his dominant leadership personality inside the green rectangle, where he was able to lead his team Boca Juniors to win 6 titles in the Argentine Premier League, in addition to reaching with "the Xeneize" the final match of the prestigious continental Copa Libertadores tournament in 1963, an achievement credited to a whole generation of Argentine players.
The incident that shook the pillars of world refereeing
However, the name Antonio Rattin was inextricably linked to one of the most controversial and influential incidents in the history of world football, that incident which occurred on the pitch of the legendary Wembley Stadium in the British capital London, during the quarter-final match of the 1966 World Cup between the Argentine and host England teams.
In that match charged with tension and emotions, the referee issued a sending-off decision against Rattin after his repeated objections to the refereeing decisions, which angered the Argentine captain who refused to leave the pitch for long minutes, in a dramatic scene that football had not witnessed the like of at that time, especially since the colored card system had not yet come into existence, as referees relied on direct verbal notification to players of warning or expulsion decisions.
And in one of the most famous moments in the history of the World Cup, Rattin, during his angry exit from the pitch, bent the corner flag that bore the design of the English flag, in a clear protest gesture against what he considered a refereeing injustice, before heading towards the luxurious red carpet that was specially laid out to receive Queen Elizabeth II, to sit on it in a blatant defiance that ignited the anger of the English fans who showered him with a barrage of projectiles and insults.
The birth of colored cards from the womb of the crisis
That shocking incident constituted a radical and pivotal turning point in the history of football refereeing worldwide, as it prompted the referees' committee of the International Football Association "FIFA" to seriously reconsider the mechanisms of communication between referees and players, and to search for a unified, clear, and globally understandable means to notify players of warning and expulsion decisions, in a way that transcends language barriers and cultural differences.
