Centenary of the Cambrian Shield

I have already mentioned in previous columns the unforgettable meetings of the Centenario and North America clubs with the sailors of the English ship Cambrian in December 1921 and the promise of Captain J. Steward to send the trophy to be played in Guayaquil between the clubs from the city. or the country.

On June 24, 1923, during the inauguration of the Puerto Duarte Stadium, built by the Guayaquil Sports Federation, His Majesty’s British Consul, Mr. WC Graham, informed Manuel Seminario Sáenz de Tejada, president of the federation, that he had A trophy in the form of a shield arrived, valued at £400.

The Federation, faced with the obligation to organize its dispute, formed the so-called Cambrian Committee to determine the basis of the competition and the date of the confrontation. In September 1923, the Committee, chaired by Consul Graham, issued regulations and proposed that teams from Quito and Riobamba be invited to face the Guayaquil team during the October festivities. On October 8, 1923, as the morning lights just appeared, the streets around the stadium, almost uninhabited, were filled with the noise made by the masses of fans and several vehicles heading towards the savannah of Puerto Duarte for the beginning of the dispute over what later became the historic cambrian shield.

At 08:00, on one side of the field, the Buenos Aires players from one of the two teams that made up the federation were already warming up: Team Probable. Soon the players of the Gladiator club came out, and soon they all lined up according to the order of the referee, the distinguished Mr. Alfred Cartwright.

The team from Buenos Aires was founded with Raymond Ycaz; Efraín Pantera Blanca Llona and Heliodoro Castro; Alberto Jurado González, Arturo Puig (captain) and Efraín Aragundi; Jacinto Chileno Vélez, Luis Rangel, Carlos Puig, Servio Moreno and Polibio Moreno. The people of Quito lined up Enrique Mosquera; Carlos Maya and Gustavo Salgado; Luis Antonio Endara, Ricardo Zambrano and Jorge Naranjo; Gabriel Campaña, Alfredo Barreiro, Manuel Lalama, Juan Patiño and Alberto Garcés.

The fervor reached its peak when the game was pressed. The Guayaquil team was extremely dominant, but after 10 minutes a coincidence occurred that caused the debacle: the injury of its leader and strategist Arturo Puig. The spirit did not fall despite the departure of Puig, and in the 12th minute the combination of Carlos Puig and Polibi Moreno ended with a powerful shot by Polibi that Mosquera was unable to keep. Salgado wanted to avoid the shot and deflected the penalty. Carlos Puig charged, but the Quito goalkeeper was able to parry it.

The ball stayed in the bounce for the wily Servio Moreno to score the first goal of the game. Gladiador went in search of an equalizer, and after 20 minutes, a surprising shot by Lalama checked Ycaza. Puig’s departure began to be noticed in the scaffolding of Buenos Aires.

Gladiator’s dominance was obvious. Towards the end of the first half, Garcés scored Quito’s second goal with a powerful shot. Shortly after the start of the second phase, Servio Moreno scored a rare chanfle goal that we have already talked about in this column, but Patiño and Endara upset the score and put a point: 4-2 in favor of the capital’s Gladiador.

On October 9, Team Posible faced Riobambeños from the Wrestler Club. This time the team from Buenos Aires was formed by Juan Chérrez; Alberto Jurado and Juan Esteves; Barrezueta, Agustín Febres-Cordero and Efraín Aragundi; Carlos Chileno Vélez, Antonio Pibe Vallejo, Carlos Puig, Guillermo Landívar and Polibio Moreno. Riobambeños put on Julio Solarte; Marco Fiallo and Francisco Dávalos; Eduardo Dávalos, José Rubio and Luis Espinoza; Heraclio, Virgilio and Alberto González, Fernando León and Luis Gallo. Landívar tested Solarte who gave away a corner. Moreno took charge and a high-spirited Carlos Puig crossed and fired a furious shot that opened the scoring.

A few minutes later, Vallejo took another corner which was won by Moreno to set up Landívar, whose shot was deflected by Solarte with an artistic flight. Towards the end of the first half, a “rosca” was created in the goal of Riobambeños. Vélez received the ball, crossed and Carlos Puig connected to the scorer. The first half ended with a great save by Chérrez on Alberto González’s shot.

In the second half, in the 55th minute, the shooter Carlos Puig scored again, and not long after, Agustín Papa Agucho Febres-Cordero passed dominantly from the center and sent a strong shot that became the fourth goal. In the 30th minute, a cross by the fast striker Vélez allowed Puig to increase the score with a masterful goal. An unforgettable morning awaited the relentless local gunner. The sixth and final goal was his, taking advantage of Antonio Piba Vallejo’s clearance.

Gladiador had a chance to win the first edition of the Cambrian Shield with an easy victory over the Wrestler team, who were defeated by the locals. On October 10, a surprise occurred when the Riobambeños defeated the Quiteños without appeal in front of thousands of people who encouraged the Riobambeños, trying to match the Quiteños if they fell, which they did.

Consul Graham reported that the Committee he chaired would meet to decide on the possession of the Shield. At the meeting, some appeals were discussed and regulations applied. In its opinion, the Cambrian Committee stated that “for the sake of justice and with the approval of the Quito and Riobambe teams, it was decided that the city of Guayaquil will continue to defend the Cambrian Shield as its holder”, taking into account that Guayaquil had “the higher score of goals” collecting eight for and four against.

With criticism from the leaders for the wrong formation of the two teams and some advice to deal with the 1924 Shield dispute, the first and historic dispute over what would be the most famous and coveted trophy in national football was put to rest.

Every year the arrival of October was awaited to enjoy the great matches for the Cambrian Shield dispute. Everything lasted until 1931, when it was played for the last time. He played a decisive role in the development of football throughout Ecuador. In 1928, it was played as a national team championship and Manabí, Los Ríos and Azuay joined for the first time, along with Guayas and Pichincha.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the start of the landmark dispute. As usual, the national sports bodies said nothing. In short, the story is not important because it leaves no profit and it is preferable to ignore it or spread nonsense that is almost always profitable. A few years ago, in the window of the Guayas sports federation, I saw a shield next to the club from Ecuador, founded in 1902.

I hope it is still there and not thrown into the trash, like the National Sports Federation of Ecuador archive that Gerardo Guevara Wolf created with so much care since 1946 and that existed until the presidency of Julio Ramírez Mora. Then the flood came and the archive disappeared. (OR)