The 2022 World Cup is in full swing in Qatar, and this time may be the last time Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar participate in the World Cup, also known by fans as the "battle of the gods".
But no matter what the final results of the three of them are, the fans who love them will still be affected by their persistence and love for football, which is the charm of sports competition, "starting from the skill and ending with character".
But many people don't know that 28 years ago, in 1994, when the World Cup was held in the United States, Colombia's talented players, because of an "own goal" that led to the loss of the game, lost the opportunity to win the championship, and were shot and killed on the streets after returning home, causing eternal tragedy in football.
The Colombian talent, Andres Escobar, was born in Medellin, Colombia in 1967, and has an older brother named Santiago, whose father worked at the management of a local bank and earned a good income, and the family never had to worry about money.
The two brothers just need to work hard to develop hobbies and do what they want to do, so Escobar has not been interested in learning since he was a child, always likes to be naughty outside, once held a school kick game, Escobar was the first to rush up, without anyone's guidance, showing his extraordinary "football talent".
At this point, Escobar was discovered by the football coach, who took the initiative to come to the door to discuss with Escobar's parents, hoping that they could agree to cultivate Escobar's football talent. My parents were worried about how Escobar would develop in the future, and now it seems that they have a goal.
For his favorite football, Escobar is no longer three minutes hot, but follows the rhythm of the coach, training hard, due to his own talent and acquired efforts, Escobar's football skills have improved by leaps and bounds, and soon represented the school to start participating in the competition, becoming a "talented football boy" in the eyes of teachers and classmates.
Escobar did not live up to expectations and successfully entered the Colombian national team, although Colombia was in turbulent times at the time, but they were very fond of football and willing to do their best to show the world the love of Colombian football.
Although Colombia's football team has not been able to participate in the World Cup at first, everything has quietly changed since Escobar arrived. After being more professional and trained and coached by the national team, he began to establish himself in the national athletics.
Since 1988, Escobar has been a succession, and in the match against England, although Escobar is only a substitute and a defender, he has a momentum, not only defends well behind, but also dares to seize the opportunity and kick a goal.
This time the goal, Escobar let teams from various countries see Colombian football, and also let the Colombian people know this "talented football boy", and everyone is also looking forward to the future Colombian football team rushing into the World Cup.
In 1989, the Colombian football team qualified for the 1990 World Cup by finishing first in its group in the Copa America. Colombia was also one of the favourites to win the title, after all, against Switzerland, which entered the World Cup after 28 years, and the host United States, which has not won for 44 years, all of which were not considered a threat to Colombia, and in a qualifier, Colombia defeated defending champions Argentina 5-0.
The "Big Oolong" of the 94 World Cup
In June 1994, the World Cup was held in the United States as scheduled, and the Colombian people were excited to witness their history, but they never expected that what they witnessed was not a "glorious moment", but an "own goal" that shocked the world.
Escobar's side initially faced Romania, but throughout the game, Romania used speed to win, which stunned the usually slow-paced Colombian team.
Although the first defeat does not mean that Colombia has no possibility of winning the championship, because they have a match against the weaker United States in the group stage, as long as they win the host country smoothly, everything is still hopeful.
On June 23 of the same year, the match between Colombia and the United States began, and the enthusiasm was high at that time, waiting for Colombia to show their strength, but the entire game was played by the American team indomitable and even tried to fight back to win, posing a great threat to Colombia.
At the end of the first half of the game, the American team's Hax rushed into the opponent's penalty area and kicked the goal in a hurry, although this kick was not 100% hit, but Escobar was in a hurry, kicked and shoveled into his own door, becoming an "own goal" in the World Cup.
This goal made the Colombian fans at the scene beat their chests, they couldn't believe, how could a talented player make such a low-level mistake, although there was a chance to reverse by a point behind, but the entire Colombian team began to mess with itself, the cooperation was awkward, completely out of state and finally lost to the host, missing the World Cup final.
At this moment, all the fans pointed their emotions to Escobar, even if Escobar took the initiative to admit his mistake and publicly apologized to everyone. But it still could not quell the anger of the Colombian people at that time.
Escobar's father sensed that something was wrong and warned his son Escobar to stay in the United States for a longer period of time before returning home, fearing that he would be physically attacked. But Escobar believes that the fans have no ill will towards him, and he is not afraid of people's abuse at all, trying to prove himself again in the next football game.
Leads to tragedy
At the end of June 1994, Escobar, who returned to Colombia, felt guilty and sullen all day, so a friend invited Escobar to come to his home for a small gathering, and constantly encouraged him to come out of the haze, it seems that in the company of friendship, Escobar's inner wounds are slowly healing.
So Escobar offered to hang out for a while, and in order to ease Escobar's mood, several friends went to a lively bar together, where they drank and danced and did not come out of it until the early hours of the morning.
Escobar said goodbye to friends in the bar parking lot and was about to drive home to rest, but before Escobar got into the car, he heard three men behind him shouting "oolong ball" and "oolong ball".
Escobar's mood was instantly enraged, although there was no direct conflict, but Escobar sitting in the car still stared at the three provocative men with vicious eyes, the three men were still not to be outdone, two of them actually took out pistols and shot at Escobar, Escobar who was shot six times was unconscious on the spot, and was no longer breathing after being sent to the hospital.
Although the murderers were punished, Colombia's "talented players" fell, and people woke up to the news of Escobar's murder that they had lost a great player and the opportunity to make football history again.
Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, but when they have the courage to admit them, they should be responded to and encouraged, rather than blindly belittling and trampling. Although Escobar's fans are heartbroken by this, Escobar's life will never come back, only fixed at the age of 27.
We can love sports competition, but we can love football games, but we must be rational about the win or loss of the game, life is more than that, every unexpected result, is the real charm of sports competition.
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