Two Escobars

While rival drug cartels warred in the streets and the countrys murder rate climbed to highest in the world, the Colombian national soccer team set out to blaze a new image for their country. What followed was a mysteriously rapid rise to glory, as the team catapulted out of decades of obscurity to become one of the best teams in the world. Central to this success were two men named Escobar: Andrés, the captain and poster child of the National Team, and Pablo, the infamous drug baron who pioneered the phenomenon known in the underworld as "Narco-soccer." A favorite to win the 1994 World Cup, the Columbians never made it out the first round. In the 35th minute of the teams game against the U.S., Andreas scored an own goal, costing his team a shot at the title and his nations chance to transform its image on the international stage. Less than ten days later, in a tragedy that shocked the world, he was shot 12 times, gunned down outside a bar in a suburb of Medellin.

Upplagd i sortimentet: 19 Augusti, 2010