287: Jose Rene Higuita, Colombia, Panini Italia 90 World Cup Sticker Album

Emlyn Jones is back with another tale of a moustachioed 90s goalkeeper. However, it’s fair to say that this man’s interpretation of community work might be a bit different from Neville Southall’s. Thanks to Mark Crossley-May, sadly not Mark Crossley, for the suggestion for this one. Rich will be talking about Mark Crossley in our next post though. Anyway, over to Emlyn.

Mention the name Rene Higuita and many will immediately think back to a September 1995 friendly between England and Colombia. Notable not only as one of Steve Howey’s four England caps, this match also saw an innocuous cross-cum-shot from Jamie Redknapp drift slowly towards the curly-maned Higuita’s goal. Eschewing the chance to catch the ball, or chest it down, Higuita instead fell forwards, hurling his heels into the air to repel the ball in the style that became known as the Scorpion kick. This may have been painful to watch for David Seaman at the other end, having been successfully lobbed from similar distance by Nayim some four months previously to lose the Cup Winners’ Cup final. Not that it stopped him managing to do it again against Brazil in 2002.

The moment was replayed frequently for weeks afterwards, and was still notable enough to be voted one of the 100 greatest sporting moments seven years later. For those who had been exposed to ‘El Loco’ prior to this game, the flamboyance would have been no surprise. It reflected the style of play that led to the creation of the sweeper keeper role, and indirectly, the backpass rule, and also a career total of 41 goals – Higuita possessing a fierce shot and frequently taking free kicks and penalties. At times, this adventurousness backfired, no more famously than at the 1990 World Cup, Roger Milla dispossessing him as he attempted to feint past him, and scoring to knock the Colombians out. Higuita apologetically described the error as “as big as a house”.

It was off the field that the Higuita story took a more bizarre and ultimately criminal turn, perhaps unsurprisingly given his close friendships with Diego Maradona and Pablo Escobar. The 1995 friendly against England was one of the first games Higuita played following his return to the side having served a 1993 prison sentence, having been implicated in a kidnapping and delivering a bribe from Escobar to Carlos Molina, ultimately missing the 1994 World Cup as a result. Such activity at the time could be punished by imprisonment without trial, a shame given his defence of “I am a footballer; I had no idea this was illegal”. His £64,000 fee from Escobar presumably didn’t clue him in that the deal was mildly questionable. Although released in time for the 1994 World Cup, lacking fitness, Higuita was left at home.

He ultimately played on until the age of 41, bar a short ban for testing positive for, shockingly for a friend of Escobar and Maradona, cocaine. Playing in Ecuador at the time, Higuita took the opportunity to appear on the Colombian version of ‘Celebrity Island’, becoming noted for his outspoken wisdom, and possibly anecdotes about not being lobbed by Jamie Redknapp. He also reportedly had extensive plastic surgery, which is believable based on the before and after photos.

Higuita is now a goalkeeping coach at Atletico Nacional, the club for whom he played in two spells during his career, following a stint coaching in Saudi Arabia. However, he has reportedly been approached by former Guerrilla group FARC to represent their political party in future elections. Perhaps ‘El Loco’ has a further chapter in his story.