THE STING IS A CLASSIC
Colombia’s crazy keeper Rene never tires of his infamous ’Scorpion’ kick at Wembley saying: What a way to be remembered LONDON STADIUM, KO 8.30PM
ALAN SMITH
RENE HIGUITA will never tire of talking about that scorpion kick.
And 29 years on from El Loco’s moment of madness, he is still embracing requests to retell the tale – because it means his place in history is safe for decades to come.
The Colombia legend stunned Wembley when he used a “reverse bicycle kick” to clear Jamie Redknapp’s cross in 1995.
But the maverick from Medellin does not think being remembered for that one action detracts from the rest of his career.
“It’s the opposite,” he says. “It was the best thing I did. Who wouldn’t want to be renowned for something like that?”
Rather than it being a spur of the moment reaction to Redknapp’s poor delivery, Higuita says it was seven years in the making - having first tried it when filming a fruit juice advert.
“It wasn’t just invented,” he says. “I did a commercial and that was when I tried it for the first time. In the advert the ball was played to a child who chested it, did some keepie uppies and flicked it behind him.
“I responded with what he did in reverse and I knew from then that I wanted to do it in a game but I didn’t know how.
“Seven years later a passage of play finally came to fruition at Wembley.”
Higuita repeated it several more times in a career that saw him sweep, dribble and score more than 40 goals for clubs and country.
He is in town for Colombia’s friendly against Spain at London Stadium tonight and, at 57, does not look much different to the player who first came to global prominence at the 1990 World Cup.
El Loco has lived a remarkable life off the pitch. As a player he served a doping ban and jail time because of a kidnapping related to childhood acquaintance Pablo Escobar.
Since then he has briefly coached, made a failed foray into politics, become a reality TV star and raged after receiving poor standard plastic surgery.
Sipping red wine from a paper coffee cup, he is engaging company despite refusing to answer questions about England’s current crop.
“My thoughts are only on Colombia,” he says.
But as a free spirit who pushed the boundaries of goalkeeping, it is surprising to hear him insist the job has “not changed much since the backpass rule” was introduced in 1992.
“That made goalkeepers play with their feet but not many are really able to,” he adds.
Indeed when it comes to Higuita discussing the goalkeepers he admires most, few of them are playing now.
Uruguayan Lorenzo Carrabs was his childhood inspiration, and Gianluigi Buffon and Iker Casillas are his favourites of the past 20 years.
But there is a mention for Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez, whom he met after West Ham and Villa drew 1-1 last Sunday.
“I got to put my arm around him,” Higuita adds. “People talk about how he intimidates people on the field but it’s always done with admiration.
“That is such a strength. As long as he doesn’t put a hand on an opponent, that behaviour is all OK with me.”
Yet he does not see anyone as daring as himself.
“It’s improbable,” he said of another keeper attempting the scorpion kick. “But I showed people what football is all about - that it’s fun, it’s a show.”
‘It was the best thing I did. Who wouldn’t want to be renowned for it?’
‘It wasn’t just invented. I tried it first in a commercial’