The 1994 World Cup is a historic part of Columbian modern history, though not for the team's sporting achievements, but the murder of Andres Escobar, defender for the Colombian national team, who accidentally shot his own goal in the elimination round. Andres' death was the watershed in a brutal civil war between the Colombian government (backed by the United States) and drug cartel warlords. The film is a tale of two protagonists named Escobar - both born in the same city, both soccer fanatics, whose deaths inextricably entwined in a marriage of sports, politics, and dirty money. Andres, known as the gentleman of the field, was the team captain and became the symbol of the rebirth of Colombian soccer success in the 1990s. Pablo Escobar, the boss of the country's largest drug cartel lionized by its poorest citizens, contributed to Columbia's becoming a football powerhouse by using profits from cocaine sold in the US. In their enthralling documentary, the Zimbalist brothers go behind the scenes of those events to analyze connections between football and the drug business, they delve deep into the secret activities of huge drug cartels, their impact on politics and sport, which, to Colombians, became a reflection of the entire societal struggle against poverty and violence. The fates of the two Escobars intertwine in a fascinating story that reaches far beyond sports and mafia.
