THE TWO ESCOBARS

(2010) Directed by Jeff and Michael Zimbalist

Arguably the outstanding episode in ESPN’s outstanding 30 for 30 series, it tells the tale of two unrelated men who shared a surname and an inability to escape Colombia’s drug culture. Pablo Escobar created a huge cocaine empire. Andrés Escobar was an elegant centre-half for Atlético Nacional and the Colombian national team, who was shot dead on the orders of a drug baron — not Pablo — after Colombia went out of the 1994 World Cup. Using amazing footage from Pablo’s archive and strong investigative work, the directors make the case that Andrés and Colombia were only at that World Cup because of Pablo’s investment in Atlético and Colombian football at large. In the late Eighties, Pablo and two rival barons effectively owned the country’s three largest club sides. Fan grumbles about clubs owned by Indian chicken processors and Chinese holding companies can only pale in comparison.