ON THIS DAY

A tragedy in Colombia with the announcement that Colombian defender Andrés Escobar had been shot dead outside a night-club in his hometown of Medellin. Shortly before his death - on 22nd June - he scored an own goal when playing for Colombia in a World Cup match against hosts USA in a group fixture. He deflected a cross from US midfielder John Harkes into his own net with the Americans going on to win the match 2-1 and Colombia going on to suffer group-stage elimination. Many blamed Escobar for that elimination with the immediate speculation being that he was murdered by an irate fan or was ordered by a gang boss who had lost heavily in betting on the match against the United States. 3 rd July

England finished the World Cup finals in Brazil with a disappointing result (sounds familiar!) against Spain. In their first World Cup finals a 1-0 defeat against Spain meant elimination at the group stage following a victory over Chile and that famous defeat to the USA. With the elimination came the realisation that English football wasn't the best in the world. The Daily Herald printed a mock obituary: ‘In affectionate remembrance of English football which died in Rio on July 2, 1950. ’