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Two men, one surname, albeit no blood relation. That’s the now-iconic link between Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and national football team captain Andres Escobar, whose paths crossed under fateful circumstances. The latter was a poor, morally minded boy who dreamed of playing football professionally. The former was a self-made Robin-Hood-figure man adored by the poor (and the footballers he funded), but loathed by the authorities he made a mockery of and who proved hell bent on shutting his drug trade down.

I finally watched standout documentary The Two Escobars after years of vaguely hearing the two Colombians’ names intrinsically tied, but being only hazy on the details. And I wish I’d watched the doco sooner. It was stellar (and far better than brother storytelling team Jeff and Michael Zimbalist’s other documentary I’d watched about favelas in Rio de Janeiro, which I thought never quite reached its potential).

Pablo was the drug lord of all drug lords, but one who hadn’t forgotten his poor roots and who gave back. A lover of the beautiful game, he sponsored football teams, which is where his and Andres’ paths crossed and entwined. Andres, a shy, sensitive, religious boy ruled by his conscience rose to be much loved by Colombians, captaining his team to a meteoric rise in skill level and World Cup qualification. Thanks to Pablo’s cash injections (which also helped him legalise and launder money), Colombian football had the money to pay and keep its top footballers, of which Andres was one.*

The truth-is-stranger-than-fiction stories surrounding that time defy explanation. Pablo was so powerful he could pick a dream team of players and fly them to his ranch for a match, where he’d bet with fellow millionaires on which team would win. But the complexities of the situation, the unease Andres and his teammates felt, the violence, corruption, ever-tightening net, and the ethical dilemmas they found themselves in didn’t sit well.

Of course, Pablo’s football benevolence raised his profile dangerously and the world soon dubbed Colombian football ‘narco soccer’. Colombia was, at that time, the murder capital of the world, exacerbated (if not led) by drug wars. One interviewee said, ‘The drug trade is an octopus; it touches everything.’ Another labelled Colombia a ‘country with enormous social problems that cannot be divorced from football’. Yet another dubbed the US’s insatiable desire for Colombian cocaine, which further complicated the issue and ensured ongoing demand, ‘white powder foreign aid’.

What followed were massive efforts to find and kill ‘patron saint’ Pablo and horrors that culminated and soured at the 1994 World Cup in the US. The team, which was tipped to win the World Cup, received death threats. One of the player’s brothers was killed back in Colombia after the team lost. Then Andres, the golden boy and widely respected ‘gentleman of the field’, muffed a do-or-die defensive clearance, which wrong-footed the keeper and saw Andres score an own goal. The team went from tournament favourites to being unforgivably bundled out in the first stage. Andres, upon returning to Colombia, was murdered.

The Two Escobars is an incredible retelling of an incredibly tragic tale, which has elements so strange you couldn’t make them up. It documents the rise—a talent-packed juggernaut of a team riding high on confidence and that inspired a nation—and fall of Colombian football—Pablo’s death saw cash dry up, Andres’ death rattled his team mates into retirement, and Colombia hasn’t qualified for a World Cup since.

The storytelling mastery and the compelling football tale have made me want to find out more about the Escobars. I’m looking at reading the following books. Has anyone read them? Would you recommend one over another? Or would you recommend them all?

Killing Pablo

Escobar

The Memory of Pablo Escobar

*As a side note, I have to say that even by impressive South American football standards, these guys were crazy good. The goals, whipped and bent in in physics-defying means, were indescribable. And the reverse bicycle kick-like save one of the goalkeepers performed is worth googling all on its own.