Based in Chile, Adam is World Football Index's South American Football Editor, overseeing the output from the most exciting and unpredictable football continent in the world. Andrés Escobar scores an own goal against the USA in 1994. Colombia failed to make it out of the group stage of the World Cup, its first in 28 years. Why was Escobar murdered after Colombia’s exit in 1994 World Cup Andres Escobar lays on the pitch after hitting the ball into his own net in match against the United States … In the final round of group games, Colombia beat Switzerland 2-0 at the Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, but the USA’s defeat at the hands of Romania meant their fate was sealed. Those would come later, six of them; bullets fired in a Medellín nightclub car park during a row that occurred in the early hours of July 2nd, 1994. Even now, Harkes said the memory of Escobar and the play come flooding back, just like past triumphs or regrets. “Barrabas was a key player, but they had me beat,” said Maturana, who reluctantly pandered to club owners prepared to jeopardise their own national team’s chances if it meant getting their players in the global spotlight to increase their value. As it dipped back to the turf, the ball represented the pride and hope of Colombia and the United States, the two countries involved in that World Cup match. “I wanted to give up and go home, but Andrés said ‘The country depends on you. “When Pablo died, the city spun out of control,” his cousin, Jaime Gavira, explained on The Two Escobars. The following month, he was shot dead. The missed chances in the Romania game haunted the strikers. “You think about when it’s soccer, when it’s own goals, when it’s the World Cup — anything that has a connection,” Harkes said. Escobar left the premises, but the four-strong group hurling abuse followed him, continued their tirade and loudly labelled him a “faggot”. Colombia captain Andrés Escobar writes in Bogota’s El Tiempe newspaper following his country’s elimination from USA 1994. “That marked the beginning of a psychological crisis for which the team wasn’t prepared,” said Velásquez. We’ll see each other again soon because life does not end here”. Andrés always stayed true to that belief.”. Despite what cynics blessed with the gift of twenty-twenty hindsight might have you believe, Pele’s suggestion that Colombia would at least make the semi-finals of USA 94 wasn’t a crazy shot in the dark. Andrés Escobar was less ambivalent and was always uncomfortable at being invited to socialise with such a high profile criminal, however furtively. You should receive instructions for resetting your password. Holed up in Catedral Prison on the outskirts of Medellín, which became his own personal fiefdom, he had been promised a reduced sentence if he agreed to cease trafficking drugs. Philippe Coutinho and Allan, Vasco da Gama, 2009 At home, Medellín remained in meltdown, the streets habitually littered with burnt-out cars, bricks, bodies and blood. Meanwhile the USA gained a point in their first game, against Switzerland, meaning a win versus Colombia would be enough to see them through. “Everything.”. “It was a sad day,” Harkes said. This name will appear beside any comments you post. “Here conflicts aren’t resolved with fists. “The game itself is built on emotions — the highs and lows of the game, pride and passion and heartbreak. But for the Colombians, the own goal had a disastrous and chilling effect. They would ring around the world, rendering millions incredulous that the captain of Colombia had been murdered, shot six times in the back, apparently as revenge for his contribution to his own team’s elimination from a World Cup that was not yet over. Instead, it was intercepted by Colombian defender Andres Escobar, whose sliding deflection wrong-footed his goalkeeper and went into the net. There were chants of “Justice! “I try to read a bit of the bible each day. Jordan Henderson - Sunderland, FA Youth Cup, March, Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi @ucalbinoleffe , 1992, Palermo and Maradona #Boca 1997 #bocajuniors, Podcast by David Goldblatt (The Ball is Round), 34 – Gary Lineker: England v Poland 1986 – 90 World Cup Minutes In 90 Days, 36 – Yahya Golmohammadi: Iran v Mexico, 2006 World Cup – 90 World Cup Minutes In 90 Days, South American Football Show - Bolivia Update, South American Football Show - Venezuela Roundup, European Football Show - The Evolution Of Andrea Pirlo, South American Football Show - Copa Libertadores - Group Stage - Matchweek 4. “There was warnings but Andrés was young and alive. Own goal at 1994 World Cup still connects slain Colombian Andres Escobar, former U.S. midfielder John Harkes Updated Jan 18, 2019; Posted Jun 22, 2010 Facebook Share Let us please maintain respect. In the opposite goal, Bogdan Stelea enjoyed one of the games of his career, pulling off one sublime save after another to maintain his team’s advantage. On one occasion in late 1993, the famously flamboyant Colombian goalkeeper René Higuita foolishly stopped to chat with journalists on his way into the prison to visit Escobar. Please enter your email address so we can send you a link to reset your password. “That night Andrés kept me company,” said Herrera. Responsible for the murder of assorted judges, politicians, over 500 policemen, at least one referee and thousands of rival cartel members who displeased him, Pablo Escobar had surrendered himself to Colombian authorities in the early 1990s, having first avoided attempts to extradite him to the USA. “The boss was dead, so everyone became their own boss. My bookmarks are two photos, one of my late mother and the other of my fiancée.” Somewhat ironically and perhaps rather naively, considering how Colombian football’s resurgence was bankrolled, Escobar firmly believed the sport could help put a stop to the violence that was destroying the country he loved. “We kept attacking but we couldn’t score,” confirmed Álvarez. In the wake of the shooting, which was and remains widely assumed to be a revenge slaying perpetrated by gangsters who had shipped heavy losses betting on Colombia at the World Cup, two people gave the licence plate number of one of the vehicles in which the group responsible for the murder made their escape.