Colombia's Escobar Pays With His Life

BOGOTA -- Gunmen who faulted Colombian soccer player Andres Escobar for accidentally scoring a goal against his team in a World Cup game with the United States shot him to death after an argument at a nightclub, police said.The 27-year-old Escobar, admired by many Colombians for the way he handled a player's worst nightmare, was shot 12 times by a group of men who confronted him at 3:30 A.M. Saturday outside a nightclub in Medellin, 150 miles northwest of here. Police said the men argued with Escobar and blamed him for the soccer team's ouster from World Cup competition in the first round, at one point yelling about his "own goal."Authorities said they were not ruling out the possibility that the slaying was linked to death threats made against the team, widely believed here to have come from members of the powerful drug cartels who were angry at having lost millions of dollars in bets placed on the team's expected success. Colombia was ousted after losses to Romania and the United States.At Saturday's second-round World Cup matches at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington and at Chicago's Soldier Field, players and fans observed a moment of silence for Escobar.In Colombia, where drug-related violence has claimed the lives of thousands of people -- including presidential aspirants, judges and journalists -- the execution of a hard-luck soccer player sparked a profound sense of anguish among many of his countrymen. Although no direct link to the cartels has been established, many Colombians immediately assumed that those who were bent on avenging the soccer team's embarrassing exit from the international soccer event had found their mark.It is unclear whether Escobar, one of several players threatened by name, was under police protection after his arrival in Medellin. Since the anonymous death threats first were made public following Colombia's loss to Romania, security around the players was increased. When the team arrived at the airport here Wednesday, security was tigh.After the 2-1 loss to the United States, some of the most prominent sportscasters went on the attack, blaming players and coaches and demanding changes. The criticism grew so heated that one columnist said sportscasters were creating a dangerous situation and should be held responsible if violence against the players resulted.