When Andrés Escobar scored an own goal in Colombia’s 2-1 defeat to the USA at the 1994 World Cup it wouldn’t just ensure elimination from the tournament for him and his team; it would ultimately cost the young defender his life.
Boasting the likes of Faustino Asprilla, Freddy Rincón and Carlos Valderrama, Colombia arrived in the United States full of confidence having eased through the qualifying stages, letting in two goals and losing just once in their previous 26 matches with a group of players that oozed skill and attacking prowess.
But things got off to a poor start for the South Americans as they were beaten 3-1 by a Romania team still littered with names which had featured in the previous World Cup and in truth were far from their best.
Defeat meant that the second match against the tournament hosts was a must-win affair if Colombia were to progress, ramping up the pressure on manager Francisco Maturana, who knew that defeat would see his side return home a national disgrace.
He even received threats if he didn’t drop veteran midfielder Gabriel Gomez; with his safety and that of his players at stake he bowed to the demands and made the change, but the fact that such ultimatums could be issued in a country riddled with drug-related crime, with much of the proceeds flowing into domestic football, only illustrated the level of corruption in the country at the time.
Colombia started brightly, taking the match to their opponents and creating a number of chances to take the lead, but the whole game turned on its head when a John Harkes cross was turned into his own net by Andrés Escobar after 34 minutes.
It was a mistake which any defender could be guilty of and an error seen time-and-time again on pitches around the world; but Colombia and their players knew the true scale of the goal and what the ramifications could be if it resulted in them going out of the competition.
Maturana’s men did all they could to turn the game around but ultimately the US doubled its lead in the 52nd minute with a goal from midfielder Earnie Stewart, before Colombian striker Adolfo Valencia scored a consolation in the 89th minute.
The win was the USA’s first World Cup win since beating England back in 1950 but also signalled elimination for Columbia and after losing their last game 2-0 to Switzerland they found themselves returning home in shame having failed to register a point in three matches and one man would pay the ultimate price.
On the team’s return captain and scorer of the unfortunate own goal, Andrés Escobar, made his feelings clear in a somewhat prophetic statement which was published in Bogota’s El Tiempe newspaper, though it appears his words fell on deaf ears.
“Life doesn’t end here. We have to go on,” he wrote. “Life cannot end here. No matter how difficult, we must stand back up. We only have two options: either allow anger to paralyse us and the violence continues, or we overcome and try our best to help others. It’s our choice. Let us please maintain respect. My warmest regards to everyone. It’s been a most amazing and rare experience. We’ll see each other again soon because life does not end here.”
But just 10 days after that defeat to the USA Escobar was dead. Gunned down outside a nightclub in his hometown of Medellín on July 2 1994 in a cold and callous act which Colombia and the game as a whole is still struggling to come to terms with.
Blasted six times in the back in an apparent revenge attack for his contribution to the national side’s elimination, his crime had merely been to accidentally score an own goal and as a result he would lose his life in a cold and cowardly manner. “Gracias por la autogol (Thanks for the own goal),” were allegedly the last words he heard.
Following his murder speculation was rife that the killing was in response to Escobar's own goal with suggestions that he had been targeted by gambling syndicates who suffered heavy losses following the defeat.
Another theory was that he had been killed by Colombians who were furious at being beaten by the United States, whose government at the time were involved in a long-running drug war against the country’s cocaine trade.
In 1995, Humberto Muñoz Castro was convicted of Escobar's murder and sentenced to 43 years in prison but was released after serving only 11 years in 2005 and all these years on the quest to find Escobar’s real killer continues; meanwhile the death of the national team captain for an inadvertent error still remains a stain on Colombian football to this day and one of the darkest days in the history of the game.
