#Headline Creation Challenge#Colombia is in South America, but its football has not been good. But in the late 80s and early 90s of the last century, it suddenly rose. And when they played in the 1994 World Cup, Pele even predicted that they might win the title. However, they did not perform satisfactorily in the tournament and did not qualify in the group stage. After the Colombian team returned, their star defender Escobar was killed. And since then they have been in a slump and have not been great in world football since. So, what's going on here?
In fact, when it comes to the rise of Colombian football, we have to mention another Escobar.
Pablo Escobar is Colombia's best-known figure, a heinous drug lord and a murderer against humanity in the eyes of the United States and other countries around the world. But in the eyes of Colombians, he is "Robin Hood of the poor." Not only is his picture hung on the wall by many poor Colombians, but even the poor hope that he will become the president of Colombia.
Of course, Escobar is also full of magic, that is, football maniac.
When Escobar was a child, although his family was too poor to afford sneakers, this did not stop his love for football, and he often happily ran after football in the alley. This interest remained until he became a notorious drug lord, and everyone knew that Escobar really loved football.
Escobar's childhood was not happy, his father was a farmer, but he was away all year round, and he paid no attention to his wife and children. Her mother, a teacher in the village, was able to raise her seven children on a meagre salary.
Once, Escobar's shoes were so torn that he could no longer wear them and had to go to school barefoot, but when the teacher saw him and threw him home, Escobar felt insulted and told his mother.
My mother was very sad, but she had no money, so she went to the store and stole a pair of shoes back. As a result, the shoe size is different. His mother thought it was because he had sinned and God was punishing him, so she went to the priest to repent. The priest asked his mother to return the shoes to the store and helped his mother get a pair of shoes on credit at the store, and Escobar returned to school.
This incident touched Escobar a lot, he knew the dilemma at home, so he said to his mother, don't be afraid, mother, when I grow up, I will give you everything.
Growing up, Escobar witnessed so much violence, death and threats, poverty and social injustice that made him an angry youth, cursing the government represented by the oligarchy, and joining community gangs as a teenager. He also vowed to die "before the age of 30, if he does not earn 1 million pesos".
In Colombia, where brutal gang fighting is ubiquitous, Escobar quickly learns about intrigue, human affection, and death-threatening crises, including the chance to get rich overnight. In Escobar's view, what he learned in the gang was not only practical but would last a lifetime compared to what he learned in school, so he resolutely left school despite his mother's pleading.
At the age of 20, Escobar always liked to wander the streets with a gun on his back. Sometimes, he just walked into the bank with a smile. Despite his pleasant face, the young tellers trembled, and no one dared to disobey his orders.
At that time, Escobar had already stood out in the gang. He is calm and calm when things happen, he is thoughtful, he can always turn dangers into dangers, and he understands the truth of wealth and danger. So the rogues all respect him and are willing to obey his orders and follow him.
Escobar was a car stealer at first, he dismantled and sold parts for stolen second-hand cars, because he was already the eldest brother, so he only used to give orders, naturally there were subordinates to do those illegal things, and he just sat and waited to collect money.
Soon, Escobar was cracked down by the police. Instead, Escobar was inspired to collude with the police by bribing them with money, and those who did not want to be bought by him were quickly exposed to the streets.
Since establishing a relationship with the police, Escobar has been stealing luxury cars. The police not only turned a blind eye to his theft, but even used his authority to issue him new license plates, so that he could sell the stolen luxury car for a good price.
In addition, Escobar kidnaps rich people to earn a sizable ransom, but he does not keep his promise to release them. Sometimes, he collected the ransom and allowed his men to kill rich people. He said the poor had had enough of poisoning and that he was simply making death seem more democratic.
Through constant killing, Escobar became a gang leader that made politicians and wealthy people alike smell. But what really made Escobar famous was after he founded the "Medellín drug cartel". After a few years of development, his drug business spread all over the world. In the United States alone, he smuggles 700,000 tons of drugs a year, and he controls 80 percent of the world's drug trafficking. And with his amazing wealth, he has been in the top ten of the Forbes wealth list for several years.
After accumulating wealth rapidly, Escobar began to "give back to society." He built churches, schools and parks in slums, and he built well-equipped soccer fields in many communities so that poor children could play football. Because of this, the poor and children loved him and called him "Robin Hood of the poor."
After having money, Escobar is indeed more willful, because his son likes animals, he specially built a private zoo that exceeds the size of any zoo in Colombia, and has many rare animals in it, and tigers and lions have become their family's pets.
Of course, Escobar still has a deep affection for football. After having money, he bought the veteran Athletic Nacional team. At the time, there was also a team of millionaires that was acquired by his subordinate Racha. They often invite the country's top soccer stars to organize All-Star games on Escobar's big farm, while he and other drug lords bet on the course of the game, often winning or losing a game for millions of dollars.
Escobar was very generous in order to build the Atlético Nacional. He took out a lot of money, hired the best coaches, bought excellent foreign players, and retained the ace athletes in the team. In short, because it is not bad money, the Atlético Nacional team in the 80s of the last century, not only has a luxurious lineup, but also full of stars, such as Andres Escobar, Lionel Alvarez, etc., are the most popular stars in the country.
Of course, after the national campaign became Escobar's private property, the game was no longer simple, he was willing to spend a lot of money for the team, and he was willing to provide good conditions for the players. But he controlled the game and bribed officials. The referee threatens and kills the referee when he does not obey his orders, or if he feels that the referee is unfair. In one match, because Escobar was dissatisfied with the referee's decision, he immediately asked his men to shoot the referee. Shortly after the match, the referee was found dead. In those years, there were not many people like the referee who died inexplicably.
In short, Atlético Nacional was not a pure football team at the time, but the players had to play on Escobar's orders. Of course, Escobar is still very friendly to the players, he often invites players to his big villa, plays games, and when gambling, he also gives a lot of the money he wins to everyone.
In 1989, Atlético Nacional won the Copa Libertadores. In the final, Escopa cheered in the stands for every goal scored by Atlético Nacional, much to the surprise of people accustomed to his cold poker face.
Due to the team's impressive results, Andres Escobar and his teammates were also selected for the national team, representing Colombia in the 1989 Copa America and the 1991 FIFA World Cup in Italy. It can be said that it was Escobar who made Colombia's football career flourish. Therefore, the people are very grateful to Escobar for bringing happiness to everyone.
However, during the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Escobar was killed by American agents.
At that time, both the US government and the Colombian government announced that Escobar's death was the end of the Colombian era of drug violence.
But it turns out that the U.S. government and the Colombian government are clearly thinking too much, because Escobar also established a complete "underground system" when he established the drug empire. The other drug lords were dissatisfied, but they did not dare to break the rules of the game he had set, because of his power. However, after Escobar's death, drug lords began to fight for territory and resources, and violent crime in Colombia became more rampant.
Previously, the Athletic Nacional was the private property of Escobar, and no one dared to look for obscurity. But after Escobar died, the drug lords, after losing the gamble, used the players of Atletico Nacional as a gas bag. Coach Matulana knows that in the face of violence, players simply can't go head-to-head, so he always warns players not to go out casually except to play.
In 1994, Andres Escobar again played in the World Cup with the Colombian national team. Since he and his teammates lost 5-0 to Argentina in the preliminary round, many people are very optimistic about the Colombian team. Even Pele said that Colombia can reach at least the final four and may even compete for the title. Colombians are also full of expectations for the Colombian team, hoping that they can take home the Hercules Cup, so as to make Colombia a world football power.
Unexpectedly, the Colombian team lost the game in the first game. Originally, winning or losing was commonplace, but the drug lords were very dissatisfied with the Colombian team because they lost a lot of money. As a result, they have repeatedly launched death threats against players, and even kidnapped players' families by drug lords.
Before the match against the United States, central defender Luis Herrera's brother died in a car accident, while player Gabriel Gomez was warned not to play. Although the news is difficult to decide, the players' hearts are worried, and the next game is even more confusing for them.
Due to the temporary change of the lineup and the players' preoccupation, when playing against the American team, everyone not only had blank eyes and wooden expressions, but also lost the opportunity to score goals several times.
In this case, Andres Escobar wanted to restore morale to the team with a tackle. As a result, in a panic, he kicked the ball into his own goal. Andres Escobar fell to the ground in a burst of laughter. Fortunately, he soon adjusted his form again and continued to play, but the whole team performed even worse because of his own goal, and eventually returned.
Before going to the United States, Andres Escobar was still regarded as a favorite of the Colombian people, but when he returned home, he heard the most abuse and cursing at him. A few days later, Andreas Escobar and his teammates went to a bar to drink, only to be recognized when he walked into the bar. The men taunted him so badly that he had to leave the bar and prepare to drive home. As a result, in the parking lot, he was surrounded by several people again. Soon, a man named Umberto pulled out a gun and shot him.
According to the investigation, Umberto was a bodyguard for the drug lord Galleon, and because Galeon lost a lot of money in gambling during the World Cup, he vented his anger on Andres Escobar and ordered Umberto to kill him.
The public was outraged by the killing of Andres Escobar, and when he was buried, more than 120,000 football-loving people spontaneously attended his funeral.
The death of Andrés Escobar also brought Colombia to international criticism. When fans around the world talk about Colombian football, they always say with disdain that there is no football there, only football hooligans.
As Matunara said, Andres Escobar did not die in football, but in the society of the time. Escobar was killed by Escobar. This is not a tongue twister, this is a bloody fact! At the same time, since Escobar's killing, many football stars have withdrawn from the national team, and many domestic leagues have been manipulated by drug lords. In such a situation, Colombian football is obviously unlikely to rise again.