Forgotten Gems: Colombia v Romania (USA ‘94)

We start a new series with a look at a fantastic match from the last time the World Cup was held in North America.

In a new series, we are going to look at some excellent games of football from the past that sometimes go under the radar or are overshadowed by other events. With the World Cup just over a year away, initial matches will be from the history of the tournament, but may at times expand into other areas.

Forgotten Gems: Colombia v Romania (USA ‘94)

In the early hours of July 2nd 1994, gunfire rang out in the car park of a Medellin nightclub as Andres Escobar was shot six times. The Colombian defender had been blamed for his nation’s early exit from the World Cup (which was still ongoing) for scoring an own goal against the USA which contributed to defeat in that game and the subsequent elimination of his team. This was the retribution, with sources claiming the shooter shouted ‘Gol!’ each time he fired, the same number of times that the commentator shouted on the broadcast. Escobar died within an hour.

This is the abiding memory that people have of Colombia’s 1994 World Cup campaign, a tragedy which also shone further light on the purported lawlessness of a country that was ravaged by drug lords such as another Escobar, Pablo. Even the Colombian coach, Francisco Maturana had weighed in on the issue leading up to the tournament, saying “Through football we’re trying to show that Colombia is about more than cocaine, violence, terrorism and death.” How pertinent his words would prove to be.

Los Cafeteros had been impressive in the lead up to the World Cup, so good in fact that the great Pele had been talking them up as potential champions. They had finished third in the Copa America the year previously and had topped their World Cup qualifying group, beating Argentina at home and away, including a 5-0 hammering in Buenos Aires. The problem was that following this result, the people of Colombia thought they were world-beaters and several cartel members placed large bets on them.

Colombia did indeed have some wonderful players in defenders like Escobar himself, a fantastic playmaker in midfield in Carlos Valderrama, and highly impactful attackers including Freddy Rincon, Adolfo Valencia and Faustino Asprilla. They played an exciting brand of passing football. As an emerging force, there was every chance they could have a wonderful tournament, but expectations were clearly far too high.

Despite their group stage exit, what is often overlooked is that they actually began the tournament playing very well, but when things began to go against them, the enormous pressure showed. The game against the USA is often the one that is talked about as that is where they were officially knocked out but until Escobar’s own goal, they had shown their class. The same can be said of their first match too.

Romania were no slouches either. Like Colombia, they had appeared in their first World Cup in a number of decades in 1990 (eventually losing to the Republic of Ireland on penalties in the second round) and had built upon that it qualifying for 1994, topping a group that included Belgium and Wales. Also like their South American counterparts they were blessed with some tremendous players such as Gheorghe Popescu, Dan Petrescu, Florin Raducioiu and, perhaps best of all, Gheorghe Hagi.

Anghel Iordanescu had primed his young squad (only one player was over 30) to play a counter-attacking style. At that stage, the majority of the squad were still based in Romania’s national league so knew each other well. The league was still of a good standard at that time too (Steau Bucharest had won the European Cup in 1986 and reached the final again in 1989) although the fall of communism meant that some players had started to venture abroad. After their exploits here, more would follow.

The two teams were drawn into a tough looking group alongside the hosts USA and Switzerland, who under coach Roy Hodgson were another emerging team. Romania were the highest seeded team in the group by world rankings, but pressure was on the Colombians to perform after their qualifying exploits. The two were to meet in their opening game at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles and, with the hosts and Switzerland having played out a draw the day previously, both knew it would be vital to get some points on the board.

The Match

In blistering sunshine, Colombia started the game brilliantly, their crisp one-touch passing drawing ‘ole’s’ from the huge crowd (around 91,000) within the first 15 minutes. They looked dangerous going forward, particularly Valencia who showed his prowess both through the middle of the park, and drifting outside before cutting back in.

However, they were soon stunned when Romania opened the scoring with their first real break, Hagi finding far too much space through the middle before slipping the ball through to Raducioiu. The striker still had quite a bit to do but wrong-footed the defenders by cutting back inside before rifling the ball past Oscar Cordoba and into the corner.

The Romanians went mad but the Colombians were stunned. You could actually see it in their faces. Initially it didn’t change the pattern of the game though. The South Americans continued to dominate the ball, producing wave after wave of attacks with the Romanians content to try and hit on the counter.

Valencia tried a shot from distance which was well saved by Bogdan Stelea in the Romanian goal, and the keeper then produced an even better stop from Rincon at point blank range after it was flicked on from a corner. Colombia were still piling on pressure but their final balls and attempts were lacking slightly.

Romania began to find some space, particularly down their left hand side and Hagi was imperious. At one point he spotted Cordoba off his line and tried to chip him from about 25 yards out. The keeper saved it that time but clearly didn’t learn his lesson. Not long afterwards, Hagi found himself over by the left touchline, fully 30 yards out, and spotted Cordoba had wandered again. Rather than crossing, he went for goal, sending it over the Colombian keeper’s head and into the top right corner. It was an astounding effort and a truly memorable World Cup moment.

Interviewed later by Four Four Two magazine, Hagi explained that it was something that he had been practising: "It was the most difficult goal to score. It takes talent, personality, inspiration, power, decision and risk – all of those things. You’re not afraid to try when you feel that you’re good and fit. It took preparation, and we prepared for it.” It was obviously just not him either, as Ilie Dumitrescu scored a free-kick from a similar angle against Argentina later in the competition.

Colombia were left wondering just how they managed to find themselves two goals down when they had been dominating play for the whole match. They knew the pressure from back home and what this meant to a lot of people, dangerous ones included. However, they kept plugging away, Valencia again coming close when shooting from distance with around five minutes left in the half.

Just a few minutes later they finally got their breakthrough though. The goal came from a corner with the ball being swung across and that man Valencia meeting it with a wonderful glancing header to send it past Stelea at the near post. Just before half time was a wonderful time for them to score and the Romanians would have been expecting an onslaught from Colombia in search of an equaliser after the break.

This is exactly what happened as the game continued to follow the now familiar pattern of Colombian pressure with a lingering threat of danger from the Romanian counter-attack. The South Americans were not going to go down without a fight. They were aware of exactly what was on the line.

It was Faustino Asprilla who was the main threat to Stelea in this half. Firstly he was put in after a wonderfully slick move where he should have done better. Then he found himself bearing down on goal again but pulled the ball wide. He even had a decent shout for a penalty with about 25 minutes remaining but the referee was unmoved. No matter what Colombia tried, it just wasn’t paying off.

The game became scrappier in the final 20 minutes as Colombia became more desperate and Cordoba caused a few moments of panic himself by continuing to come right off his line in the style of his predecessor Rene Higuita, at one point almost gifting the Romanians the opportunity for a third. Chances kept coming and the match was incredibly fun to watch from a neutral‘s point of view.

In the 89th minute another goal finally came, but it wasn’t the equaliser Colombia had been seeking, rather it was the knockout blow. Romania were awarded a free-kick and, thinking quickly, Hagi spotted a gap in behind the advanced Colombian defence. He dinked the ball into the space, right into the path of the onrushing Raducioiu who calmly rounded Cordoba and slotted the ball home.

When the final whistle finally blew, the Colombians couldn’t believe what had transpired. They had played their exciting brand of football but had been left to rue missed chances and the wonderful form of Stelea. It is said that the forwards struggled to sleep as they were worried that they would be blamed for their misses. Faustino Asprilla later claimed that “This is what was on our minds as we went on to the pitch - that if we didn’t win there would be trouble and we would be killed.”

As well as finishing better, they also knew that they would have to be more solid defensively moving forward. There had been questions over team selection and Maturana was reportedly threatened into making changes. Even with all of this overwhelming pressure, they were still expected to go out and beat the USA in the next match

Unfortunately they couldn’t make that happen and despite winning their final group game against Switzerland they exited the tournament at the first hurdle. The Romanians on the other hand went all the way to the quarter finals and had a series of tremendously entertaining matches, including ones against Argentina and Sweden which often steal the limelight from this one.

Colombia’s 1994 campaign will always be remembered for the tragedy that occurred following the defeat to the hosts upon their return home, but the quality of the team and the fact that they did manage to show some wonderfully skilled football in spite of tremendous pressure should not be forgotten. It was perhaps just too much, too soon.

The Teams

Colombia (4-4-2)

Cordoba; Herrera, Perea, Escobar, Perez; Valderrama, Alvarez, Gomez, Rincon; Valencia, Asprilla

Romania (3-5-2)

Stelea; Prodan, Belodedici, Mihali; Petrescu, Popescu, Munteanu, Lupescu, Hagi; Raducioiu, Dumitrescu

The Goals

16’ Raducioiu - Assist: Hagi (0-1)

34’ Hagi - Assist: Munteanu (0-2)

43’ Valencia - Assist: Perez (1-2)

89’ Raducioiu - Assist: Hagi (1-3)