Andrés Escobar: A Nation's Tragedy

 

After nearly thirty years the murder of Andrés Escobar still raises ire and defensiveness in Colombia. It is not just about Escobar’s status as a soccer legend for Atlético Nacional but also for the timing and circumstances of his death and what it meant not only for Colombia but the global perception of Colombia.

Hearing that their country qualified for the 1994 Fifa World Cup was the best news Colombians had received in years. It had been less than a year since the death of Pablo Escobar (no relation)  and his brutal legacy was a stain the country was fighting hard and gallantly to erase. Escobar had tarnished the image of Colombia internationally and the fallout of this was hurting Colombians both financially and emotionally.

But the national love for soccer proved to be Colombia’s saving grace. The twenty-seven-year-old Andrés Escobar, who was not only a soccer icon since 1986, but something of a national hero for his philanthropy (creating opportunities for impoverished youth and working to change the foreign perception of Colombia) was selected among the soccer stars representing his country.

And yet, the ghosts of Colombia’s recent past haunted the team. With the death of Pablo Escobar, crime became, if anything, more rampant as the crime lord’s control had ceased. New cartels were formed and other forms of racketeering took control of cities like Medellin.

On June 22, 1994 Colombia squared off against the United States at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The team was visibly worried and knew that the reputation of their homeland rested on their performance. Striker Adolfo Valencia recalled, “We attacked from all angles, but the ball wouldn’t go in.”

At twenty-two minutes into the game, Escobar stretched out into left field to block a shot from US midfielder John Harkes. In doing so, Escobar grazed the ball, sending it into his own team’s net. The own goal gave the US a 1-0 lead and, ultimately, a victory of 2-1.

Escobar was visibly upset. As the announcer shouted ‘goal’ he laid on his back, then sat up, pensive, visibly crushed, rose and returned to the game without seemingly flinching. Did he know what awaited him back home?

Teammate Alexis Garcia would later believe so, “He had to make a play on the ball and unfortunately it went in. I saw Andrés’s face and felt deep pain. It was like a premonition.”

Despite a small chance for redemption four days later when Colombia defeated Switzerland 2-0 at Palo Alto’s Stanford Stadium, the United States’ loss to Romania disqualified Colombia.

All Escobar said about his team packing their bags to return home was, “It’s a very trying moment, not only because of the error I committed, but also because in these games, our team could not fulfil our expectations.”

Devastated, Escobar chose, however, not to stay with relatives in Las Vegas but rather to return home and pick up his life. Back in Medellin, Escobar, perhaps in an effort to forget his pain, went out with some friends on the night of July 2. His friend, Chonto Herrera warned Escobar that going out in public so soon after Colombia’s exit from the World Cup was not a good idea as tensions were high in the city. His manager, Francisco Maturana agreed, “I said ‘the streets are dangerous. Here conflicts aren’t resolved with fists. Andrés, stay at home. But Andrés said ‘No, I must show my face to my people’.”

That night, Escobar and his friends arrived at El Indio Bar in Medellin and had a few drinks. Some patrons (witness testimonies are shaky) began mocking Escobar for his mistake. The embarrassed soccer player tried to deescalate the situation but his efforts were no match for high tensions and high booze. Splitting from his friends, Escobar left the bar but four men followed him out taunting him. He got in his car but the words escalated, a gun was pulled and six shots were fired into Escobar’s back (the shooter shouting ‘goal!’ after each shot). Despite the arrival of an ambulance Andrés Escobar died less than an hour later.

Witnesses came forward with the license plate of the vehicle from which the killers fled and it was traced to Juan and Pedro Gallón, former associates of Pablo Escobar who were now working for the Pepes cartel. Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez, another Pablo Escobar alumni who would come to be charged with some 300 murders, the Gallóns paid off the prosecutor’s office to turn the investigation toward one of their bodyguards who was out that night. In the end, the Gallóns were cleared and Humberto Castro Muñoz ended up confessing to the murder and was sentenced to 43 years in prison, but was released in 2005 due to “good behavior”.

The death of Andrés Escobar saddened a nation just rising from terror. What seemed a ray of hope ended really as a further plunge into despair. They had lost a beloved national athlete but more; Colombia’s fight for its reputation took a step back.

It would recover and today Colombia attracts many tourists from around the world and has a large global presence. In a fitting shift, as the statue erected in Medellin in his honor in 2002 indicates, the legacy of Andrés Escobar is more about his talent and its tragic end than its social context. Escobar dedicated his life to changing Colombia and this may be the one glimmer of happiness in his tragic story.

If what manager Francisco Maturana said is true, “Our society believed that soccer killed Andrés. Andrés was a soccer player killed by society,” Escobar’s legacy, at least, has moved beyond that.