Colombia's impressive performance at this year's World Cup has made its fans jubilant, considering that it is the team's first time to be in the tournament quarterfinals. Among the many Colombia fans who have been cheering the team on the sidelines are the family members of the late defender Andres Escobar.
FIFA.com said that despite the tragedy befallen on the rising Atletico Nacional star. the Escobars had not turned their back on football. Family members had attended each of the Colombian team's matches in the World Cup and sported a "Cafeteros" kit with the number two and their surname on the back. According to them, they are simply reminding everyone what appeared to be Escobar's message in the newspaper "El Tiempo" to his home country five days after his death: "Life doesn't stop here."
In 1994, Colombian football was reportedly run by illegal gambling syndicates. At the World Cup that year, an Escobar-led national team had hesitancy to continue their journey in the World Cup, considering the consequences of their match plays in the tournament on game-betting back home, the Telegraph said. When the talented Escobar, no doubt pressured during his team's intense game against the US, had scored his own goal and caused his country's chances for a World Cup championship, Escobar's nephew confided to his mom that his uncle might get killed for his error.
Escobar did not shun himself to the public upon arriving at his home country after his team's disappointing run. However, it was clear that there were some who took Escobar's mistake personally, resulting to the fatal shooting of El Caballero at the El Indio Bar on July 2 that year.
Escobar's death remained a mystery, and Humberto Castro Muñoz, who had confessed and gotten convicted to 43 years in jail for fatally shooting the player, was released after serving only 11 years. Drug trafficking sibling the Gallón brothers, who have been accused of calling the hit on Escobar, were cleared of all the charges against them.
However, the remaining Escobar siblings believe that the ugly reminder behind their brother's killing had somewhat been a force for good as Colombia faces Brazil in the quarterfinals. It has been known that FIFA itself extended the invitation to the Escobar family to watch this year's tournament.
The Escobar siblings said, "People should enjoy football with passion, but never forgetting it's a game. [What happened to Andres] should serve as a cautionary tale: there is no place for violence. Football should unite the country around a message of peace and love."
