Saddest moments in football history

[Fulhamfc3]

Watching people holding their arms out looking for a way out at Heysel brought a tear to my eye.

[Excape Goat]

Andre Escobar. So many of us saw his own goal and then the news came a few days later.

[cleansheetbsc]

Andre Escobar. So many of us saw his own goal and then the news came a few days later.

There was more time in between. It wasn't a few days. I think it was several months later.

[Excape Goat]

There was more time in between. It wasn't a few days. I think it was several months later.

'No, it was not long after the own goal. He was killed a few days after returning home to Columbia. I still remembered hearing the news during the WC Finals. probably as early as the round of 16.

[cleansheetbsc]

'No, it was not long after the own goal. He was killed a few days after returning home to Columbia. I still remembered hearing the news during the WC Finals. probably as early as the round of 16.

My bad

Andrés Escobar Saldarriaga (March 13, 1967 - July 2, 1994) was a Colombian football player, who was shot and killed in Medellin. The motivation for the murder is unclear: some attribute the murder to the own goal that Escobar scored in the 1994 FIFA World Cup against the United States. Another theory is that the his death was unrelated to soccer and was instead the result of a bar fight that left several people wounded.

He was a defender for Colombia in the Football World Cup in 1990 and 1994. His shirt number was 2.

Escobar scored an own goal in a match against the United States on 22 June during the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Stretching to cut out a US cross, he deflected the ball into his own net in the second match of Group A. The USA won the game 2–1, and as a result, Colombia was eliminated from the tournament in the first round.

[Robert Lanza]

I'm glad you brought up '82. For me, that World Cup showcased the one of the saddest moments on the pitch.

Germany 0-0 Austria

I would be ashamed to be a fan of either nation on that day.

Actually, it was 1-0 Germany. Horst Hrubesch's goal on 10 minutes was enough to get both teams through to the 2nd round at Algeria's expense.

[Akumastarr]

Australia, for the first time ever, competing in a World Cup with a SERIOUS TEAM, they played great underdogs, had great spirit, got to the 2nd round, looked like they could beat Italy with a red card being awarded to one of their players in play all for a penalty to be awarded in the 94th minute when it looked like both teams were getting ready for extra time. Truly heartbreaking and disrespectful to Australia.

[JFPIV]

After Cory Lidle died, ESPN.COM provided a list of athletes and teams that have died in plane crashes. The following were on the list:

• April 28, 1993 -- 18 players and five team officials of Zambia's national soccer team in Libreville, Gabon.
• Dec. 8, 1987 -- 17 players of the Alianza Peruvian first-division soccer team in Lima, Peru.
• Sept. 26, 1969 -- 25 members of Bolivian soccer team "The Strongest", in the Andes.
• Feb. 6, 1958 -- Eight members of the English soccer champion Manchester United, in Munich.
• May 4, 1949 -- 22 members of Torino, the Italian soccer champions, in Turin, Italy.

[Bolivianfuego]

apart from the serious moments (like death, air crashes)...this is perhaps the saddest moment ever for me. It was the death of the old ronaldo. It was so bad....that I refused to watch football from 1999-2001 until ronaldo came back. There was no one to follow in football during that time. Euro 2000 was probably the only football I saw during those periods.
I agree, through my teenage years he was my hero. :( To see him just drop again after coming back on the pitch for the first time believe it or not caused me to also stop watching football through that time period..... im serious. :(

[Tricky Tree]

Leaving deaths aside, France spring to mind for cocking up the 1982 WC SF & the 1994 final qualifier v Bulgaria, but also Italy in the Euro 2000 Final, Milan in the 2005 CL final.

I am English so for me nothing compares in sadness to the Italia '90 SF, but the most heartbreaking moment I saw was when Hearts lost the Scottish title on the last day of the 1986 season, on goal difference. For a team other than Celtic or Rangers to have triumphed would have been memorable, but you have never seen such distraught fans on a TV screen.

I read that Brazil's 2-1 loss to Uruguay in the 1950 WC final provoked not a few suicides.

[Catel]

Furiani (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_C%C3%A9sari_Stadium_disaster). One of the most terrible dramas. On live on TV.

[Pauly77]

Hillsborough for me, definitely. My dad was there (luckily not in the Leppings Lane end) and I saw what it did to him. It still has very real memories and emotions for probably everyone in Liverpool. Very sad.

[elcombo]

when they killed andres escobar after scoring an own goal during the 94 world cup

[Lovefutball]

Manar Mudhafar is a more recent one. Only 19years old, amazing Iraqi football player. Killed in practice by a stray bullet. RIP

[Lovefutball]

Heres a video RIP video I found on youtube about him, almost brought me to tears, sad stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqLMSNmKpfg

[Father Ted]

For me watching the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters live on television was shocking

[M]

The '85 Bradford City fire with people running onto the pitch with their clothes on fire. This brought home to me just how dangerous many English grounds were. So sad it took another four years and the Hillsborough disaster for the problem to be truly addressed.

[Parkhead_Faithful]

John Thomson

[indestructible]

NBC piece on Grande Torino. When they died, it changed italian football forever http://youtube.com/watch?v=5nii9sXCrv4

Here's another vid about italy's world cup history. How the death of the Torino players affected the national side. It should be around 5:00 minutes http://youtube.com/watch?v=orpAFJWJJRE&mode=related&search=