With Higuita, the usual goalkeeper, in prison following his visits to Pablo Escobar, Colombia lost unexpectedly 3-1 eo Romania in their first match. The brother of defender Chonta Herrera was then killed in a suspicious car accident. Escobar had to persuade his team-mates to stay at the World Cup. Before their second game, against the USA, the team received death threats on the TV in the hotel they were staying at. “Someone programmed the hotel’s TVs – it freaked us out,” Maturana, the coach, said. With various drugs lords desperate to see certain players starting for Colombia, Maturana was also told he should drop Barrabas Gómez or have the entire squad murdered. “I couldn’t put another’s life in danger – Barrabas was a key player but they had me beat,” Maturana said. “We called home, there were riots, complete chaos and that’s how we entered the field.”