It seems strange now to think that Colombia went to USA ’94 as one of the favourites to win the tournament, only to fall at the first hurdle after humbling Group A defeats against Romania and the United States, 3-1 and 2-1 respectively. The favourites tag came largely due to a 5-0 mauling of Argentina on 5th September 1993 in Argentina’s back yard, the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
A 2-0 win over Switzerland, who had themselves pummeled Romania 4-1, failed to ease Colombia’s pain, which worsened still further in the days following after the shooting in Medellin of defender Andres Escobar, scorer of an own goal against the host nation.
Andres Escobar own goal in the ’94 World Cup
In footballing terms, the debate still rages as to whether the 5-0 tonking of the Argies helped or hindered the Cafeteros’ in the long-term. While some feel it cemented Colombia’s status as a world force, others claimed the 5-0 result was excessively emphatic and affected the players’ focus. Indeed, the way that the tournament would pan out, especially with Colombia’s early exit while Argentina were able to progress, should serve as a warning to anyone coming up against them next year.
So it was that Romania, who had condemned Colombia to an early exit, came up against Argentina, who had been so humiliated in qualifying by the Cafeteros. Argentina were still reeling from the aftershocks of Maradona’s expulsion from the tournament after having been found to be a drug snorting disgrace to the game. Romania on the other hand were coming into the game having gained a head of steam from their three group matches.
Romania scored in the 11th minute through an Ilie Dumitrescu free kick. Although Gabriel Batistuta pulled one back for Argentina from the penalty spot five minute later, Argentina proved to be no match for the Gheorghe Hagi-inspired Romanians who went into the lead again within two minutes thanks to a second Dumitrescu goal. Hagi himself made it 3-1 in the 56th minute and despite a relatively respectable scoreline of 3-2, Argentina were totally outplayed by Romania. Abel Balbo scored the consolation goal for Argentina. Previous finalists from both ’86 and ’90, Argentina had been eliminated from the competition and Romania went through to the quarter finals.
Can it really be fifteen years since I was watching this in the Rose and Crown? If you’re struggling to come to terms with how long ago this really was, consider this: Joe kinnear of Wimbledon won three manager of the moth awards in the 1993-94 season, others winning the award that season were Alex Ferguson who was a mere 8 years into his Manchester United tenure, Mike Walker of Norwich City, Newcastle United’s Kevin Keegan, Trevor Francis who was managing Sheffield Wednesday, Kenny Dalglish of Blackburn Rovers and Joe Royle, who was in charge at Oldham Athletic.
Here is the entire Romania – Argentina match…
