Jeff and Michael Zimbalist’s documentary The Two Escobars brings us a tale of a nation griped by crime, drugs and a passion for soccer. At the time, circa 1994, Columbia was seen as one of the world’s most reviled narco-states and one of the world’s best soccer nations, at one time being ranked 4th on the FIFA rankings. At the time, many Colombians were hoping that victory in the World Cup would help rebuild the country’s tattered image. Unfortunately, that dream was never realized. Colombia’s hopes came crashing down with one errant kick in the 1994 World Cup by Andres Escobar, the national team’s star player. The player’s subsequent murder was a cold reminder of how the violent drug trade controlled everything within the country, including soccer.
If you haven’t already seen it at a film festival near you, make sure to catch this fascinating documentary so that you have something interesting to say about the relationship between cartels and the local and national teams in Colombia when the conversation comes up at work. Fueled by drug money, soccer enjoyed both a meteoric rise and a cataclysmic fall. Mesmerizing stuff.
The documentary will air on Saturday, July 17 at 12 PM on ESPN2.
Jeff and Michael Zimbalist’s documentary The Two Escobars brings us a tale of a nation gripped by crime, drugs and a passion for soccer. At the time (circa 1994), Colombia was seen as one of the world’s most reviled narco-states and one of the world’s best soccer nations, at one point ranked 4th in the FIFA rankings. During this period, many Colombians were hoping that victory at the 1994 World Cup would help rebuild the country’s tattered image. Unfortunately, that dream was never realized. Colombia’s hopes came crashing down with one errant kick during the World Cup by Andres Escobar, one of the team’s star players. Escobar’s subsequent murder was a cold reminder of how the violent drug trade controlled everything within the country, including soccer. (more…)
