1930
When Hector Castro accidentally sawed off part of his own arm at the age of 13, he probably didn’t think it would lead to a place in history.
Back then, the World Cup wasn’t even a thing – the inaugural event was more than a decade away, eventually inspired by the success of the football tournament at the Olympics. Uruguay were awarded hosting rights for the 1930 World Cup, having triumphed at the two previous Olympics and also as they were celebrating the centenary of the country’s independence.
The tournament was due to include 16 teams, but travel difficulties meant that only nine entered – none from Europe – before Belgium, France, Romania and Yugoslavia were persuaded to take part at short notice, all sharing a boat which also picked up the Brazil team en route.
Controversies followed almost as soon as the tournament began. In the group stage, Brazilian referee Almeida Rego blew for full-time six minutes early in Argentina vs France, shortly after Argentina had taken the lead, and just as a French player was clear on goal. When Argentina faced Mexico, the referee was Bolivia’s coach, Ulises Saucedo. A day later, his side lost 4-0 to Brazil when both teams kicked off in white shirts, causing great confusion. Bolivia eventually changed into blue.
Uruguay’s first match took place five days into the tournament because of construction delays at the Estadio Centenario. Castro scored the only goal to give the hosts victory over Peru, having previously forged a successful club career with Nacional, also winning the Copa America and Olympics with his country. All this, despite the f
