The FIFA World Cup: Controversies and moments, Part 4

Representational image (Photo: Edoardo Busti via Unsplash)

1994: Escobar shot dead

Andrés Escobar was a fine centre-back at Colombia and Atlético Nacional. He was also renowned for composure and clean gameplay, which earned him the nickname of El Caballero del Fútbol (The Gentleman of Football). He played in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, and then again in 1994, in the US.

In the latter, Colombia were eliminated after they lost 1-3 to Romania and 1-2 to the US in their first two matches. In the 35th minute of the latter, John Harkes of the US sent a cross towards the Colombian goal. Escobar intercepted it, but the ball beat his own goalkeeper, Óscar Córdoba. A 2-0 win in the last match, against Switzerland, provided little consolation to the Colombians.

Escobar was visibly upset when he returned home, in Medellín. Six days after the Switzerland match, he stepped out of home, ignoring cautions of some well-wishers. When a group of fans began to insult him at the El Indio Bar, Escobar walked away to the car park. But the assailants arrived and fired several bullets at him as he sat in the driver’s seat.

Escobar was declared dead less than half an hour later. His funeral was attended by a hundred thousand fans, including president César Gaviria. There are numerous theories around the murder — the most prominent being a grudge borne by gamblers who had bet on Colombia at the World Cup — but they remain unproved.

1998: What happened to Ronaldo?

There was little doubt that Ronaldo, FIFA World Player of the Year in 1996 and 1997, was the biggest star of the 1998 World Cup, in France. He played brilliant football, scoring four times and winning the Golden Ball Award.

However, he did not feature in the team-sheet submitted by coach Mário Zagallo to FIFA 72 minutes before the final, against France. Half an hour later, Brazil submitted a second sheet, replacing Ronaldo with Edmundo.

It was evident that Ronaldo was not at his best that night. France won the World Cup with a resounding 3-0 win, the heaviest margin of defeat Brazil had suffered in the history of the tournament until then until then.

Soon afterwards, a lawsuit was filed in a Rio de Janeiro court. An inquiry was launched. The national congress sprung into motion. Several footballers were interviewed.

Ronaldo had been with Roberto Carlos when “his entire body convulsed, he frothed at the mouth and began to shake uncontrollably.” César Sampaio managed to prevent Ronaldo from swallowing his tongue. Ronaldo subsequently fell asleep.

Zagallo had not included Ronaldo in the original line-up, and changed his mind only when the doctors at the Lilas clinic gave Ronaldo an all-clear. It was rumoured that Nike, who had struck a $160 million deal with the Brazilian Football Confederation, had forced Ronaldo to play. They went unsubstantiated.

There was little doubt that Ronaldo had a seizure. Whether it was epileptic or psychosomatic or drug-induced remains unknown, but playing him was certainly a mistake. As Prof. Alex Caetano de Barros, who examined him at Inter Milan, said, it was “an absolute error, since the 24 hours after a convulsion are those when a recurrence is most likely.”

2002: The Korean route

In 2002, the World Cup came to Asia for the first time, when Japan and South Korea co-hosted the tournament. South Korea became the first Asian nation to reach the top four, but their route was unfortunately marred by refereeing controversies.

The South Koreans had never won a match at the World Cup before, and set things right in their first match with a 2-0 win against Poland. They drew 1-1 against the USA and beat Portugal 1-0 to top their group. They met Italy in the Round of 16, in Daejeon, in front of 42,000 people.

In the fourth minute, Seol Ki-hyeon fell to the ground after a collision with Christian Panucci. Byron Moreno, the Ecuadorian referee, awarded a penalty that raised eyebrows, but the matter was forgotten when Gianluigi ‘Gigi’ Buffon saved Ahn Jung-hwan’s shot. Christian Vieri put Italy ahead in the 18th minute, but Ki-Hyeon drew level in the 88th, and the match went into extra time.

Then, Damiano Tommasi scored what should have been the Golden Goal and a quarter-final berth for Italy, but it was ruled offside. Moreno then sent Francesco Totti off for a non-existent foul, prompting FIFA president Sepp Blatter to comment that “a referee with a feeling would not have shown him the card, bearing in mind the same player had already been booked.”

With three minutes left, Jung-hwan sealed the match for South Korea. But controversies plagued their quarter-final as well, against Spain.

A headed goal by Rubén Baraja was not allowed by Egyptian referee Gamal Al-Ghandour. Then, for the second consecutive match, South Korea conceded what should have been the Golden Goal, this time to Fernando Morientes. But Michael Ragoonath, the Trinidadian linesman, erroneously called that the ball had crossed the goal-line earlier.

With two goals overturned, South Korea won on penalties.

2006: Battle of Nuremberg

The 2006 World Cup, in Germany, was marred by one of the ugliest on-field instances a World Cup final has seen. In the second half of the extra time, French captain Zinedine Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi and was sent off.

But even this disgusting spectacle seems tame when compared to the Round of 16 match between Portugal and the Netherlands in Nuremburg.

The first yellow card, of Dutchman Mark van Bommel, took two minutes. Five minutes later, his compatriot Khalid Boulahrouz was booked for fouling Cristiano Ronaldo. Limping with an ugly gash on his thigh, Ronaldo had to be substituted with Simão inside the first half. He left the ground in tears.

Before the substitution, however, Maniche had put Portugal ahead by a goal, and Valentin Ivanov, the Russian referee, had yellow-carded Maniche and his teammate Costinha, In the injury time of the first half, Ivanov sent Costinha off after a handball.

Petit, who replaced Pauleta soon after play resumed, took four minutes to be booked. In all, Ivanov sent three others off (Boulahrouz and Giovanni van Bronckhorst of the Netherlands, Deco of Portugal), setting a new World Cup record. There were 16 yellow cards as well, including Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo for time-wasting.

Blatter later slammed Ivanov, calling him a “walking yellow card”, a comment he later regretted. On the other hand, Ivanov found support from several quarters, including German Football Association president Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder.

Despite all this, Portugal maintained their one-goal lead. Despite missing Deco and Costinha, they beat in penalties in the quarter-final before finally bowing out against France.