It is no exaggeration to say that after the USA-Colombia (2-1) match of the 1994 World Cup in the United States, the whole world was shaken and shook not only by the sports audience.
In the 35th minute of this match, the 27-year-old defender of the Colombian team, Andres Escobar he was so unlucky to get into a ball circling the 11 spot that it went into his goal from his slipped foot. Unfortunate own goalcountless such things have happened before and after on football fields, a at the world championships also. The hosts won 2-1 and four days later Colombia – again with Escobar in the ranks – unsuccessfully beat Switzerland 2-0, finishing bottom of their group, and thus eliminated from further meetings.
The real nightmare came later, in Medellín, the second most populous city in Colombia. A few days after the team returned home, Escobart in a bar attacked him some members of the Colombian drug mafia, and after a scuffle, the driver of the criminals fired six shots at the footballer saying:
The athlete lost his life and the killer was caught the next day and subsequently sentenced to 43 years in prison, but was finally released after serving 11 years.
After the horrific incident, many people thought that the killer killed Escobar only for his own goal, but it is more likely that he did not do it of his own free will, but was hired by criminals who lost a lot of money because the Colombia did not reach the round of 16 in the World Cup.
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Cover photo: Andrés Escobar’s own goal in the USA-Colombia 1994 World Cup match (Source: Flickr)
