This is the saddest story the World Cup has.
On 22 June 1994 at the Rose Bowl, Colombia played the United States in the group stage. In the 35th minute defender Andrés Escobar stretched to cut out a cross and deflected it into his own net. Colombia lost 2-1. They had arrived as one of the tournament favourites, and they went out in the group stage.
Ten days later, on 2 July 1994, Escobar was back home in Medellín. In a parking lot there, he was shot six times. Witnesses said the killer, Humberto Castro Muñoz, shouted "goal" with each shot he fired. Escobar was 27.
What happened to Escobar's killer?
Castro was sentenced to 43 years in prison. He served 11. The case shocked the world, and the short sentence added to the sense that Escobar had been let down twice.
Why this is not a story about football
It is tempting to file it under football, because it began with an own goal. It really belongs somewhere darker. A young defender, loved in his country, was killed after one deflection in a match in California. The murder showed the world how dangerous the mix of football and cartels had become in Colombia at the time.
There is no lesson to take from it and nothing to celebrate. It is included here because it happened, because it is part of the tournament's history, and because Escobar deserves to be remembered as a footballer as well as a victim.
Tomorrow: number 9.
