I’ve lived in the OC for roughly four years now, specifically moving to Fullerton a year or so ago. I had never heard this story, and I discovered it watching an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary last night called “The Two Escobars.” I was curious if this was a well-known local story or not—and if not, hopefully a few of you find it interesting:
While violence and political turmoil reached an all-time high in Colombia after the assassination of Pablo Escobar, the country’s men’s national team remained a great unifier for the nation. They had been playing exceptionally well during this era (admittedly thanks to the financial investments made by Escobar himself, who was, of course, an infamous drug lord) and entered the ‘94 World Cup as a possible favorite to win the whole thing. In the group stage, Colombia lost their first contest to Romania 3-1. That made their next game against the U.S. a must-win if they wanted to get past the first round. But chaos unraveled the night before the match while staying at their hotel. This hotel was the Fullerton Marriott on Nutwood Avenue.
Apparently, the hotel’s staff was receiving anonymous calls which made death threats against players and coaches if midfielder Gabriel Gómez—who was a mainstay in their lineups—was announced in the Starting XI. The hotel’s fax machine also began receiving similar death threats, and legend has it that the hotel’s TV satellite was hacked and showed the threats on the players’ television sets in their rooms. Similar threats were targeted towards Gómez’s family, so once head coach Fransisco Maturana decided to pull Gómez from the roster due to these violent warnings, the player decided to fly back to Colombia to be with his family. The match was decided after a brutal mistake by one of the team’s best players, defender Andrés Escobar. While attempting to clear a cross by the U.S., he mistimed it and ended up accidentally kicking the ball into his own goal. It was a mistake that tragically cost him his life, as he was murdered in his Colombian hometown just six days later by a group of thugs who antagonized him over his mistake.
Many players believe that their experiences in that hotel caused the team to play much worse than they could have. The U.S. was a team that Colombia had beaten in many friendlies throughout the 90s, and they were confident they would conquer them again. But their psyches had been shattered once they began fearing for their lives and the lives of Gómez’s family. Some players even stated in the documentary that they believed a “witch’s curse” was cast on that night in the Fullerton Marriott. After Andrés Escobar’s death, international soccer in the country struggled to stay afloat, and they failed to qualify for the World Cup again for roughly two decades. Perhaps the team’s fall from grace could have been avoided if not for their stay on Nutwood Avenue? Probably a stretch, but I found this story fascinating! I’ll never look at that hotel the same way whenever I drive past it😂
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-24-mn-8067-story.html
