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🇦🇷 Argentina /Sports

Football beneath Purmamarca’s Seven-Colored Hill, the pitch Infantino once presented as the perfect expression of passion

From Clarín · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • Santa Rosa’s modest pitch in Purmamarca, Jujuy, became internationally known after Gianni Infantino praised its setting beneath the Seven-Colored Hill.
  • The century-old club later received perimeter fencing and LED lights donated by River Plate, but lost the regional final for promotion.
  • Santa Rosa belongs to La Quebradeña league, one of the regional structures feeding Argentina’s national football system.

At the foot of Purmamarca’s Seven-Colored Hill, Santa Rosa plays on a pitch more than 2,000 metres above sea level, without grass or stands. The modest field once moved FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who shared an aerial view of it in November 2024.

Writing in Spanish and English, Infantino called the pitch “a perfect representation of the popularity of our sport and how it is enjoyed absolutely everywhere in the world.” The article treats that praise with both affection and irony, noting that almost two years later Infantino tried to sell World Cup commercial rights to U.S. businessmen interested in the soccer business.

Infantino’s post became a gift to Santa Rosa, the century-old club from the Liga Quebradeña. The team’s sky blue and white colors suddenly gained attention, replacing the hill’s seven colors in the public conversation. After the pitch went viral, it received perimeter fencing. Its latest improvement was a set of LED lights donated by River Plate.

Installing the lights required trenches across the field before the cables could be buried. Road machinery then compacted the ground on the eve of the Liga Regional final, which offered a place in the Amateur Federal B tournament. Santa Rosa lost that final to Juventus of Humahuaca, which secured promotion.

The club remains part of the vast grassroots structure beneath the Argentine Football Association. Since 2021, La Quebradeña has been the 226th league recognized by the Federal Council. It organizes football for 14 clubs across Humahuaca, Tilcara, Tumbaya and Valle Grande. From 2027, the competition format will change.

Football continues on the field made famous by Infantino. During Purmamarca’s celebration of its patron saint, Santa Rosa de Lima, musicians carrying religious images walk from the 1648 church to the terminal. Local teams then play for the honor of their areas, understood by urban residents as neighborhoods. Santa Rosa continues to defend its own patch of ground.

a perfect representation of the popularity of our sport and how it is enjoyed absolutely everywhere in the world

· Gianni InfantinoThe FIFA president’s description of Santa Rosa’s pitch in a 2024 social media post.
About this summary

Originally published by Clarín in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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