Escobar’s murder in Medellin a truly tragic football tale

ANY loosed-tongued World Cup commentator tempted to describe an own goal as “a tragedy” would do well to note that yesterday, July 2, marked the 16th anniversary of the murder of Andres Escobar, the Colombian player whose final major act for his country had been to put through his own goal in a game against the host nation at USA ‘94.

You can still see the clip on YouTube: Escobar stretching to cut out a low cross from the left by John Harkes, then lying on his back on the ground, covering his face in his hands, as the ball nestles in the back of the net.

The US won the match 2-1 and Colombia finished bottom of their group.