Andres Escobar was a Colombian footballer who played as a defender for clubs like Atletico Nacional and Young Boys and the Colombia national team. Sadly, he is mostly remembered for his unfortunate death which happened back in 1994? There have been divided opinions on what actually led to his murder. While some claim it was the price he paid for scoring an own goal in the game against USA, some others are of the opinion that it was as a result of a deal gone wrong.
Colombia were a very solid team going into the 1994 FIFA World Cup tournament. Even Brazilian legend Pele regarded them as one of the favourites to win the tournament. Colombia were placed in Group A, alongside hosts USA, Romania and Switzerland.
Their first game was against Romania and it ended in disappointment as they lost 3-1. They played USA next and that was when the unfortunate own goal happened. That match took place on 22 June 1994. USA opened scoring via Escobar’s own goal before Earnie Stewart made it 2-0. Adolfo Valencia scored a consolation goal in the 90th minute, as the game ended 2-1, which meant that Colombia were already out of the competition. They went on to win their next game against Switzerland 2-0 but it wasn’t of much importance.
After the World Cup tournament, Andres Escobar returned to Colombia, as opposed to visiting relatives in Las Vegas. And five days after Colombia’s exit from the tournament, he visited a bar in Medellin in company of his friends. After some time, his friends split up and early the next morning, while he was alone in his car, three men materialized and engaged in an argument with him. One of the men brought out a gun and reportedly shot him six times, reportedly shouting ‘Goal’ after each shot.
Escobar, who had bled profusely as a result of the bullet wounds, died forty-five minutes after he was rushed to the hospital. His murder was believed to be connected to the own goal he had scored in the game against USA, which played a huge role in their early elimination from the tournament. But it’s totally wrong for someone to be punished so harshly for something that was a mere accident.
Thousands of people were in attendance at Escobar’s funeral and he was honoured annually by people who brought his photograph to matches. In the year 2002, a statue was unveiled in his honour in Medellin.
Humberto Castro Munoz, who was a bodyguard for members of a powerful drug cartel, was found guilty of Escobar’s murder and sentenced to jail. And this has stirred up the opinion that his murder had nothing to do with the own goal, but was rather as a result of a bust-up he had with members of the drug cartel.
Even Francisco Maturana, who was the manager of the Colombia national team at some point, shared a similar view, insisting that Escobar’s murder had no connection with football but was as a result of him “being at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
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