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Thirty years ago, on July 2, a soccer player from the Colombian men’s national team, Andrés Escobar, was killed in Medellín with six bullets. A few days earlier, Colombia had lost 2-1 in the World Cup against the United States, the home team, and had thus been eliminated in the first round: the decisive goal for Colombia’s elimination was an own goal by Escobar himself and some thought, and still think, that this own goal was somehow responsible for his death. In reality, it has never been clarified whether soccer had anything to do with the story of Escobar’s murder, and the investigations did not reveal any elements that would suggest a premeditated killing.
The story of Escobar, who was also killed a month before his wedding, left its mark on Colombian football and its fans, contributing to worsening Colombia’s image in the world, in an already complicated period for the country. The year before, in fact, Pablo Escobar, Andrés’ namesake, considered one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world, had died, and from that moment on, a sort of war for power between gangs had broken out and Colombia had become even more violent. After the murder of the Colombian defender, many players from the national team decided to go and play abroad, fearing for their safety.
Andrés Escobar Saldarriaga was born in Medellín on March 13, 1967. He began playing football in the youth team of Colegio Calazansen and then moved to Atlético Nacional de Medellín in 1989, with whom he won several championships. He was called up to the national team and played as a starter at the World Cup in Italy in 1990, where Colombia lost in the round of 16 against Cameroon. He was also selected for the following World Cup, in the United States. He was not a champion, but he was considered a good defender and was very popular in his country: he was respected by the fans and, unlike some of his teammates, he was seen as an honest person, without relationships with drug traffickers and other criminals.
Andrés Escobar during the match against the United States in the 1994 World Cup (AP Photo/Eric Draper, File)
Colombia showed up at the 1994 World Cup with a good team: Carlos Valderrama was in midfield and Freddy Rincon and Faustino Asprilla in attack, and the coach was Francisco Maturana, one of the greatest coaches in the history of South American football. The fans had high hopes for the tournament, fueled by a historic victory: on September 5, 1993 in Buenos Aires, Colombia beat Argentina 5-0, during the final phase of the “supergroup” of qualifications. But several episodes contributed to destabilizing the team: a few months before the start of the World Cup, the youngest son of midfielder Luis Fernando Herrera was kidnapped, while goalkeeper René Higuita, still very famous today for his acrobatic saves, was forced to miss the tournament (he spent seven months in prison in 1993 for acting as an intermediary in a kidnapping).
In their debut match, Colombia lost 3-1 to Romania. At that point, to have any hope of advancing from the group, the national team had to win the next match, the one against the United States. A few hours before the match, death threats arrived at the hotel where the team was staying against midfielder Gabriel Jaime Gómez Jaramillo, who was held responsible for the defeat against Romania: he refused to play. The match against the United States was played on June 22, 1994. Around the half-hour mark of the first half, the American player Harkes broke free on the left wing and sent a low cross into the Colombian area. Andrés Escobar intervened with a slide tackle but his deflection ended up behind the goalkeeper. Escobar remained on the ground for a long time. In the 52nd minute, Earnie Stewart made it 2-0. The match ended 2-1: with time practically up, Valencia scored a goal that was, however, useless. After two games, Colombia was already mathematically eliminated.
A banner in memory of Escobar, shortly after his death. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
When the team returned to Colombia on June 29, there was almost no one at the Medellín airport. Escobar was accompanied by his girlfriend and a few relatives. The last days of Escobar’s life were reported a few days after his death by the local newspaper Time: After his arrival in Medellín, Escobar frequented several clubs, along with some friends. On Saturday, July 2, he went to a downtown nightclub, where he stayed until about four in the morning.
From here on, there are different versions of what happened. Most of the witnesses said that Escobar had gone to the parking lot of another nightclub, in front of the first one, where he had left his car. There, there was an argument with some men in a black Toyota Land Cruiser, who insulted him (according to another version, there was no argument). What is certain is that one of these men, the former security guard Humberto Muñoz Castro, hit him with 6 bullets. Escobar died shortly after.
Castro confessed and was sentenced to 43 years in prison: he was released in 2005 following a highly contested sentence reduction. The real motives for the murder have not been clarified and the investigations have concluded that there was never a specific plan behind the execution: some, however, maintain that it was revenge by some gamblers (these hypotheses claim they were linked to drug cartels) who had suffered large gambling losses due to Colombia’s unexpected elimination. According to others, Escobar’s murder was instead a coincidence, as claimed by sports journalist Carlo Pizzigoni – who worked for a long time to reconstruct the case – two years ago in an interview with Everyday occurrence.
On the night of the murder, Escobar went to a disco because he wanted to let off steam and approached some prepaidas they call prostitutes in Colombia. But these girls were linked to a small group of drug traffickers and the situation degenerated, until the epilogue in the nightclub parking lot. The gambling issue existed but had nothing to do with the murder, which is based on chance. The murderer was the hitman of a group of drug traffickers and in all likelihood had not even recognized the gambler. The investigations showed that Escobar had not been followed by anyone, and that this was not the modus operandi of an execution decided by organized crime linked to the gambling ring. It was an immense shock, amplified by the fact that the victim was Andrés. If it had happened to Tino Asprilla or Renè Higuita, who frequented certain unsavory environments, it would have been equally terrible, but less shocking.
Andrés Escobar’s funeral was attended by 120,000 people – including César Gaviria Trujillo, the country’s president at the time. Last year, a TV series about the Colombian footballer’s story, entitled The Final Scorewhich however is not available in Italy. The number 2 shirt, used by Escobar, remained unused for a long time: recently only Iván Córdoba has worn it, a very charismatic and respected footballer, very well known in Italy because he played for a long time for Inter. In the Copa América that is being played these days, in which Colombia has passed the group with a day to spare by winning the first two games, the number 2 is the defender Carlos Cuesta, who plays for Genk, in Belgium.
2024-07-02 14:00:36
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