Own goal incident Escobar's own goal occurred in Colombia's second group
match against host nation the
United States during the
1994 FIFA World Cup. Stretching to block a cross from American midfielder
John Harkes, he inadvertently deflected the ball into his own net. This gave the U.S. a 1–0 lead in an eventual 2–1 victory. This meant that in order to advance to the next round, Colombia needed to defeat
Switzerland in their final group match and also needed the United States to defeat
Romania in the concurrent match in order to have a chance at advancing. Colombia ended up defeating Switzerland 2–0 but Romania's 1–0 victory over the United States meant Colombia was eliminated from the tournament finishing at the bottom of group A.
Shooting After the tournament, Escobar decided to return to Colombia instead of visiting relatives in
Las Vegas,
Nevada. Escobar was shot six times with a
.38 caliber pistol. It was reported that the killer shouted "¡Gol!" ("Goal!") after every shot, once for each time a football commentator had said it during the broadcast. The group then drove away in a
Toyota pick-up truck, leaving Escobar bleeding.
Declared dead Escobar was taken to the hospital where he died 45 minutes later; he was
27 years old. The murder was widely believed to be a punishment for the own goal. In the UK, the
BBC issued a public apology after its football pundit
Alan Hansen commented during the World Cup's Round of 16 match between Argentina and Romania that "The Argentine defender warrants shooting for a mistake like that," on 3 July, a day after the murder of Escobar.
Memorial Escobar's funeral was attended by more than 120,000 people. Every year people honour Escobar by bringing photographs of him to matches. In July 2002, the city of Medellín unveiled a statue in honour of his memory.
Investigation Humberto Castro Muñoz, a
drug cartel bodyguard in Colombia, was arrested on the night of 2 July 1994, confessing the next day to the killing of Escobar. Castro also worked as a driver for Santiago Gallón, who had allegedly lost heavily having bet on Colombia. He was found guilty of Escobar's murder in June 1995. He was sentenced to 43 years in prison. The sentence was later reduced to 26 years because of his submitting to the ruling penal code in 2001. Castro was released on good behaviour due to further reductions from prison work and study in 2005. His three accomplices were acquitted. There are also allegations that the Gallón brothers bribed the Prosecutor's Office to redirect the investigation towards Castro as the triggerman – and the Prosecutor's Office contends that Castro was simply following orders from the Gallón brothers – but prosecutors lacked credible evidence to convict them. Pamela Cascardo, Escobar's girlfriend at the time of the murder, believes that the accusation of the Gallón brothers' bribery of government officials is supported by Castro's having killed a national celebrity and serving only 11 years in prison. In 2013,
Francisco Maturana, a former coach of Escobar's, denied that his murder had any connection to football or the World Cup, but rather was due to being "in the wrong place at the wrong time" at a violent time in Colombia's history. Escobar's murder tarnished even more the image of Colombia internationally. ==Legacy==