Memorable moments: Escobar scored his own goal at the World Cup. Then the cartel shot him in Colombia

Colombia qualified for the 1994 World Cup in the USA, finishing undefeated in the qualifying stage. The Colombians had one of South America’s best defenders at the time – Andrés Escobar – but the tournament proved fatal for him.

Escobar was playing for Atlético Nacional, a team from Medellín, Colombia. A city infamous for Andrés’ namesake Pablo and his Medellín Cartel.

He performed so well in the Colombian league that he earned a nomination to the packed Colombian squad for the 1994 World Cup, held in the United States.

Colombian football at that time was experiencing a tremendous growth in performance. In the 1970s, narco-barons used Colombian teams to launder money. In the 1980s, as cocaine exports increased, so did the value of the teams and the quality of the league. Conditions in Colombian football improved, the standard of players and coaches rose.

Even so, the clubs remained a means of laundering the money of the narco-barons, who brought their lifestyle to the league level. One referee was killed at the time and another was threatened with death if he did not whistle according to the notes of the Medellín cartel, which owned the aforementioned Atlético Nacional. Football at that time was literally a reflection of Colombian society.

In the group stage, the South American team faced the Swiss, the Romanians and the Americans. Colombia were among the favourites of the group and nobody really expected them to have any trouble in the group. However, they already lost their first match to Romania 1: 3, by that time Colombia was in chaos. A year after the death of Pablo Escobar, there was a power struggle between the cartels and violence was the order of the day.

The atmosphere in the Colombian cabinet before the important match against the USA was terrible. Coach Francisco Maturana was under pressure to select his starting line-up, having received several death threats. The Colombians were literally playing for their lives.

In the 35th minute, American John Harkes centred into the penalty area, where Escobar was unlucky enough to knock the ball into his own net. You could immediately tell from his face that he was in a bad way. The Americans added one more goal in the second half and in the 90th minute Valencia could only reduce the score to 1:2.

In the last match, Colombia beat Switzerland, but Romania won against the USA. This was a surprising end for the South American team.

After the tournament, Escobar returned to Medellín. Five days after his return, he and his friends went out for a night on the town. In a parking lot, he got into a verbal altercation with three men. After he got into his car, several shots were fired at him with a firearm. Each shot was allegedly accompanied by the shooter’s taunting shout of “goal”.

The national team defender succumbed to his injuries in hospital on 2 July 1994 at the age of 27. Drug cartel bodyguard Humberto Castro Muñoz confessed to the murder. But many believe the confession was based on a $3 million bribe.

Escobar was a silent leader who won both the Colombian league and the Copa Libertadores, the equivalent of the South American Champions League, with Atlético Nacional. Before the tournament, there was speculation that he could move to the renowned AC Milan.

Escobar hated the Colombian drug trade and President César Gaviria said of him at his funeral, where over 100,000 people said goodbye, that he was a role model for all Colombians.

Source: Twitter, Wikipedia