Colombians hope slain player Escobar’s memory inspires team

Colombian fans are paying tribute to defender Andres Escobar, gunned down 20 years ago after scoring an own goal in the World Cup, and hope his memory will inspire the current crop’s hunt for glory.

In one of the darkest chapters of football history, Escobar was shot outside a bar in Medellin on July 2, 1994, in apparent retribution for an own goal he scored days earlier hastening Colombia’s exit from the World Cup in the United States.

Some Colombian fans in Brazil have been carrying Escobar’s photo to games as they have watched their team march into the quarter-finals with four wins out of four. And Escobar’s brother, Santiago, has urged them to keep going in his honour.

“We dedicate this triumph to Andres Escobar,” one fan said on Twitter after Colombia’s victory over Uruguay set up Friday’s quarter-final against hosts Brazil.

“Andres Escobar is living through this team,” added another in a flurry of social media discussions of Escobar’s legacy on the eve of Wednesday’s anniversary of his death.

While Escobar’s death was synonymous with a 1990s Colombia wracked by violence and drug cartels, fans say the star of the 2014 team - baby-faced midfielder James Rodriguez - coincides with the image of the nation’s rebirth since then.

Though yet to end Latin America’s longest-running guerrilla war or tame the cocaine trade, Colombia has made huge strides in security and has also developed an increasingly prosperous economy, drawing tourists and foreign investors alike.

Ahead of the showdown with Brazil, and on Wednesday’s exact anniversary of Escobar’s death, one youth sports organization called Streetfootballworld is hosting a memorial in Rio de Janeiro.

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