Colombia and the memory of 1994

The lucky draw placed coach Pekerman and his team in the same group as Poland, Senegal and Japan. Before the Colombia-Japan match took place, experts said that the team from South America would not have much difficulty winning a ticket to the round of 16.

With a series of quality faces in the squad such as Falcao (Monaco), James Rodriguez (Bayern Munich), Cuadrado (Juventus), Davinson Sanchez (Tottenham)...Colombia is considered much stronger than Japan, Senegal and is equivalent to the seeded team of group H, Poland.

Falcao and his teammates' schedule is also very favorable. While Poland must "fight to the death" with Senegal in the first match, Colombia only has to face the team considered the weakest in Group H, Japan.

It seemed that victory, even a big win, was hard to escape from the hands of coach Pekerman and his team, but the unexpected happened. At the end of the match at Mordovia Arena, Colombia had to accept a 1-2 defeat against the team nicknamed Samurai Blue. This defeat had a significant impact on the chances of James Rodriguez and his teammates to continue.

Colombian players were disappointed after losing to Japan. Photo: Internet

If Colombia fails to advance from the group stage, Carlos Sanchez will be the “sinner” in the eyes of Colombian fans. The 1986-born player’s handball in the 3rd minute not only gave Japan a penalty kick (Kagawa successfully took it), but also put his teammates in a 10-on-11 situation (Carlos Sanchez received a red card).

Colombia's defeat to Japan largely falls on the player wearing the number 6 shirt. 24 years ago, at the 1994 World Cup held in the US, Colombia was eliminated in the group stage after a 1-2 defeat to the host team.

Remember, Valderrama and his teammates came to USA 1994 with a lot of expectations from experts and Colombian fans, after they crushed Argentina with a score of 5 - 0 in the South American qualifying round. Unfortunately, 2 losses to Switzerland and the US, made the team nicknamed Los Cafeteros (The Coffee Makers) pack their bags and go home amid the anger of their home fans.

Escobar's own goal in 1994. Photo: Internet

In the 1-2 defeat to the host team USA in the final match of the group, defender Escobar scored an own goal. Not long after returning from the US, the player born in 1967 lost his life to an unjust gunshot wound (there is information that Escobar was killed by the Colombian mafia because of the previous own goal).

The exact cause of Escobar's death is unknown, but for Colombian fans, USA 1994 is not a good memory, worth remembering.

24 years ago, Los Cafeteros were eliminated in the group stage by a 1-2 loss (to the US), due to an individual mistake (Escobar).

In this year's World Cup, Colombia suffered a 1-2 defeat (to Japan), also due to an individual mistake (Carlos Sanchez). Coach Pekerman and his team and Colombian fans have reason to worry about their team's chances of advancing further.

Memories of 1994 are flooding back to the minds of fans in the hometown of writer Garcia Marquez./.