Photo: ROMEO GACAD (Getty Images)
The 1994 FIFA World Cup is still one of the most memorable cups in the history of soccer for a couple of reasons. This was the first time that Russia participated as a new sovereign country after the dissolution of the huge USSR. This was also the first time that the East and West Germany reunited and played as one country yet again. Brazil won the cup in an exhilarating match that ended with penalty shoot outs. However, one of the events that people still talk about happened early on when Andres Escobar, a Colombian defender scored an auto-goal during the qualification match against the USA and directly caused Colombia to be eliminated from the Cup. What followed this goal shocked the whole world and, unfortunately, marked the 1994 World Cup.
The Auto-Goal
Andres Escobar was one of Colombia’s most talented defenders and often worked to promote his country in the best light possible. He was born in Medellin, a town known for being the birthplace of Pablo Escobar, the extremely dangerous Colombian drug lord. Despite having the same surname, the two of them weren’t actually related. In the 1994 Cup, Colombia started off rather badly. They lost their first match against Romania with a score 3-1 and needed to defeat the USA to keep afloat. Despite being a favorite, Colombia lost the match, mainly thanks to the accidental auto-goal that Andres Escobar scored trying to cut off a pass from an opposing player. Needless to say, the people of Colombia were both enraged and disappointed with him.
Murder in Hometown
After the Cup, Escobar went on a vacation and came back to his hometown of Medellin. He needed some time to relax and forget about all the bad comments he’d received. However, he simply couldn’t escape it. Nearly a week after the unfortunate goal, Escobar went out drinking with his friends in Medellin. Around 3 AM, he was all alone in a parking lot when three men approached him and started arguing with him over the auto-goal. These men were the notorious brothers Gallon Henao who belonged to one of the greatest drug cartels in Colombia, and their bodyguard, Humberto Munoz. According to some sources, all three men were armed and shot Andres as many times as the American soccer commentator said the word “goal” during the game.
Aftermath
Considering that the two suspects were well-known members of a drug cartel that rivaled Pablo Escobar’s, it doesn’t come as a surprise that they went unpunished. Apparently, all the blame for the murder fell on their bodyguard who confessed that he shot Escobar six times in the neck because he thought he was threatening his employers. After the hit, the three men drove away in their SUVs and planned on reporting them stolen. To complete the ruse, the two brothers also beat up their bodyguard and sent him away. When Munoz tried to report the crime at a police station, he was arrested and later convicted of murder. Though he was sentenced to 45 years in prison, Munoz only spent 11 and was ordered to pay a certain amount to Escobar’s family, which he never did. The two cartel brothers were just convicted of aiding the murderer and sentenced to house arrest that never really interfered with their business. To this day, this remains a dark spot in Colombia’s history.
Legacy
Although it doesn’t make much of a difference to Andres now, the town of Medellin and the whole of Colombia marked his death as an incredible tragedy. They raised a statue for him and people carried his picture to all future games in order to pay tribute to a great soccer player and a patriot. We might never know what actually triggered his murder; was it his name that made assailants associate him with their nemesis – Pablo Escobar?; was it the fact that a number of high-profile criminals lost their bets upon Colombia’s disqualifications?; or was it simply the fact that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Whatever the reason, we should remember Andres not for the way he died, but for the magnitude he achieved while he lived.
Have you watched Andres Escobar score that fateful auto-goal live? What do you think about his murderers going free?
