Stylistically, the shadow of that old '94 team is actually still leaving its mark on Colombian futbol at the international level--in reverse. No subsequent coach has wanted to play anything but rigid systems after the apparent "lesson" of that World Cup was learned. With the exception of their home-cooked Copa America victory, Colombia has been dull to watch, ultra-defensive, and virtually lifeless in attack for more than a decade, despite having tremendous players. What went unsaid in the documentary is that Maturana (the coach) is still living off of that 5-0 in Buenos Aires, with numerous failed coaching spells (Gimnasia de la Plata, T&T national team, etc) perhaps revealing that it was simply a question of the players making that team and the coach getting out of the way. I thought it was an excellent documentary--but the part of its thesis I disagree with is that the withdrawl of drug money from the Colombian league teams has anything to do with the repeated failures of the national team, as if the two were connected. The real problem there, I think, is that the shadow of the '94 team's failure to get out of the group stages has been read over and over in tactical terms (open futbol doesn't win), rather than, as the doc points out, the fact that they were under death threats and one of the player's brothers had been killed after the Romania game. Colombia needs to reconnect with those times in terms of a futbol ethos--would've been interesting to see what Marcelo Bielsa could've done for them (Chile hired him first).
Auto: stellar post! Rep owed. This is a really good thread w/ very interesting comments by posters that I think would appreciate the following take by a Duke prof about the racial implications of the France 2010 WC fiasco. This guy is a scholar of soccer and empire, so I think it would be of interest outside this thread. I'm sure if you search through the site you'll find killer bibliography if interested. http://blogs-dev.oit.duke.edu/wcwp/2010/06/21/france-vs-south-africa-then-and-now/ Surf around and it's got stuff about history, politics and soccer throughout the globe. I'm bookmarking this page.
I agree that it could have been more balanced if the subject were just Palbo Escobar, but I saw the documentary being more about the intertwining of drugs and soccer in Colombia, the syncronized rise and the dual fall. Since Pablo's men provided a window onto how the two became involved, it was necessary to interview them, but the PEPEs had little to no involvement with soccer and so none of them were interviewed. I'll also say, several of the Colombian players and even Maturana stated that either they believed, or that people on the street at the time believed that had Pablo been alive, Andres would not have died. Not interviewing PEPEs had nothing to do with that opinion being in the documentary. The documentarian can't just ignore things he or she personally doesn't agree with.
This in a nutshell. I turned it on and was riveted from start to finish. This thing ought to win whatever awards they give out for documentaries because it was one of the best I'd ever seen. I really didn't know the real story behind Andres Escobar's murder but now I do. What struck me was his humility and heart and yet he was the one who paid the price. I also didn't know he was destined to go to Milan. An extremely sad end. I'm setting my DVR up to tape it again when it comes on as a re-run.
The best sports documentary I've ever seen. Wow. Amazing to see the real birth of US soccer so dependent on a country torn apart.
This will be re-played tomorrow July 5th on ESPN Deportes at 9pm eastern, 6 pacific. It will be on ESPN2 at 10pm/7pm the same day. In Spanish, some of the narcos are really difficult to understand, so be forewarned. Biography will show an hour long documentary on Pablo Escobar today, 7/4 at 3pm eastern.
I watched this documentary, which I thought was extremely well done, with a lump in my throat and knot in my stomach. I was in the midst of my formative years watching Colombia self-destruct. I had spent the summers of 89' and 91' in Colombia, falling in love with the land of my parents. I remember all those traumatic events - the airline bombing, the bombing of DAS (our FBI), the Justice Ministry, all the assisinations etc, etc, etc. Colombia continues to recover, Uribe has provided many strides toward Colombia ridding itself of the disorder of the past. Still a lot to needs to be accomplished but Colombia is a great place. Many people are surprised to learn of the flourishing tourism in Colombia. Increasingly people are willing to look past the headlines and discover Colombia's wonderful attributes. The new tagline for Colombia's tourism industry is something like - "If you come, the only danger will be that you will want to stay". As Colombia is in the midst of an era of recover I feel for Mexico which is living a very similar experience, when the state decided to take on the mafios and as a result the people suffer the wrath of the evil. My thoughts are with Mexico - which is another beautiful country which I had the opportunity to visit many times. For the Soccer: As an American of Colombian decent, that game in 1994 was obviously bitter-sweet. I was hoping for both teams to advance and would've loved to have seen a tie. I had been an advid fan of the US since the qualifications to 1990 and Colombia balanced my suffering as a US fan with all the thrills and joy they gave during that same era - the 5-0 whiched turned out to be the peak. I remember seeing Colombia-Greece a few days prior to the cup in Giants Stadium. It was special day seeing so many Colombians together not talking about the problems of Colombia but rather smiling a looking so happy. Colombia's NT has come very close to qualifying each cycle since 98' but for some unexplained lose of points at home they'd be in. What can't be overlooked is that the rest of South America has great futbol too. Witness the continent's performance in S.A.
I've been to colombia 3+ months of the past 7. Things over there are improving as we speak. Nothing has been stolen from me and no one has ever tried to mug me, although basically all the people I know there has had some bad experience and story tell, but then again, I'm never alone when I'm there. I remember growing up and being a huge fan of America de Cali. I would go to their training facility to watch them practice. Wilson Perez's daughter used to go to my school. I used to play pick-up games of soccer with Willington Ortiz's son. Eduardo Niño's girlfriend was my neighbor. When I traveled to Tulua, I would stay away 2 blocks away from where Faustino Asprilla lived. I was at the Tulua festival this past month hoping to see Asprilla, since he usually makes an appearance, but I didn't see him. Some of my all-time favorite players played in America such as; Pipa de Avila, Freddy Rincon, Wilmer Cabrera, Palomo Usuriaga, Tren Valencia, Jorge Bermudez, Eduardo Niño, Oscar Cordoba, Wilson Perez, Willington Ortiz, etc, etc. With all of this in mind I was the only person jumping around everywhere when the US defeated Colombia in 1994. It's really sad what happened a few days later, and sadly, I feel that was a huge hurdle set for Colombia, that they haven't yet found a way to jump over. Expectations were so high that year for Colombia and look at what happened. With expectations now at an all-time low, and crime dwindling down in numbers, they should be able to make a mark come 2014.
Don't sweat it. I've been there several times. Just exercise the due caution you would in any US city and you'll be fine. The country has made great strides in security in the last 8 years with Alvaro Uribe. You'll have a great trip.
One thing I never understood was why Barrabas Gomez didn't play against the US. Watching the ESPN piece, Maturana stated that the team had received death threats and that if Gomez played, somebody would die. I always thought it was because of the fact that his older brother was an assistant coach for the national team and that naturally, rubbed some people the wrong way. The wrong kind of people.
Great great movie. I fear for Mexico. As for the own goal itself, Stewart was unmarked in the box for a tap in. Escobar made the right play but just didn't hit it well. Also, Lalas scored early in the match and it was called offside. It wasn't. We scored again (Stewart) early second half. They only pulled one back in stoppage time. My point here is that we probably win that game anyway even without the own goal.
I think that was due to the fact that Gomez was widely considered the worst player in the starting 11, and almost everyone in Colombia did not want to see him on the field. Most everyone felt he played only because of his brother.
That was my general impression as well but Maturana said that Gomez was a "crucial" part of his starting XI and I was too young to remember the tactical details so I never really knew why Gomez didn't play. It seems it was a combination of nepotism and death threats.
Remember that magical bicycle kick from Balboa? That was special. The Colombia announcer said something to the effect that if Balboa scored that goal they should just stop the game and begin constructing a monument. Lalas' goal was legit and he got a yellow card to boot.
I just saw this thread, so how crazy was it that they had written on the tv's we will kill all of you, when the hotel they were staying in was in the US!. But that hotel was in LA, so...
Great documentary, I remember vividly a lot of the details with the story. The '94 World Cup was my first vivid soccer memory. One of our Youth Nats and possible future full National Team Member was actually raised in the middle of this situation in Colombia. I'm from Florida and very familiar with Diego's story, and the details of his transition from Colombian youth to American prospect have started to come out. Steven Goff wrote an in depth article in the Washington Post that tells his story, including how Colombian violence forced his family to relocate to the US. The University of Virginia also made a very cool piece that showcases his youth in Colombia, and you can even see him wearing a Colombian National Team Kit as a kid. If he ever gets to suit up for the full nats, it will make for a cool human interest piece: Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/10/AR2009121003872.html Virginia video: http://www.virginiasportstv.com/?sid=6&v=2400&f=.mov
espn has done a great job with these 30/30 movies, I have watched several, but this was the best for me personally. I had students that grew up in Medillin and moved to the greater boston area shortly after the 94 cup. It is/was a tragedy and amazing how so many different worlds can collide. Have it on dvr permanently.
Easily one of the most fascinating documentaries I've ever had the pleasure to watch. I put it on the dvr as I went to bed and expected to fall asleep and watch it again starting where I nodded off . . . didn't happen. I was glued and watched the whole thing wide awake until the finish. As far as the "I would like to hear the PEPE side" . . . when someone says I personally killed around 250 people and we attacked the police and killed 540 officers and injured about a thousand . . . I'll take their word for it that the PEPEs blew up things and killed other people. They didn't appear to hide too much. Hearing the PEPE side would be nice but their absence wasn't that noticeable or wouldn't have really added too much more to the already incredible story.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWU0C4KHnfk&feature=related"]YouTube- ESPN 30 for 30 - EP16 - The Two Escobars Part 1/11[/ame]
So the questions is, would Colombia have had a deep run in the 94 WC with Pablo Escobar alive? I think the Colombian team was flawed. Valderama played no defense and played way too much in the middle. The US clogged passing lanes and Colombia didn't adjust. Colombia needed a wide game. I never understood why an attacking player like Valderrama was praised as much as we was. Rincon and Asprilla were the real stars on that team IMO.