Inmortal # 2

The proximity of the world cup has brought back memories of my favorite player

I was six years old in 1994 and i remember crying when a 27 years old Andrés Escobar made that own goal against USA (i won't even link to it, it still makes me weep) and i remember crying even more when my mom told me he was killed, he was my favorite player form my favorite team (i've played as a centre-back since i can remember), he was a Nacional man through and through. He came from the youth program, played for the team that won the first libertadores for Colombia, and other than a brief stint in Young Boys in Switzerland spent all of his career playing for Nacional.

The first game i ever attended was a Nacional-América when i was 8 years old, which means that i never saw Andrés play live, my young age and his untimely death prevented it, the memories of watching him play on tv are hazy at best, but even if my memories of Andrés have deteriorated his image hasn't, if anything it has grown stronger, his funeral was attended by over 120000 people all clamoring for justice because his death represented everything that was wrong with Medellín in the early 90's, it made him go from being a man to be a part of the collective imagination of the people in this city, a reason for change, a hope for the future.

That's why the last time Nacional won a title, in 2007, the first chant was "Andrés, Andrés" and why 14 years old kids wear t-shirts with his name and image even if they never saw him play, he is off limits for any opposing fans, of course noone even considers sullying his name, he is the first name that comes up if you ask someone for Nacional best XI, Andrés Escobar is a myth among fútbol legends, it's just a shame that his death is the reason most people have ever heard of him.

Now enjoy his only international goal in Wembley against England.

video by siempreconusted