The day that Bin Laden wanted to assassinate Beckham in a World Cup (and other stories that ended in murders and kidnappings)

The fever for soccer is more latent and with greater impact due to the surprises that the World Cup Qatar 2022.

Despite the fact that the event is impacting many fans, the World Cups have not only been characterized by their good and historic moments.

The championship has left some controversial and terrifying storiessince situations of danger, kidnappings and murders.

Some of the best players in the world have experienced difficult times during various World Cups and have even given up participating to ensure their safety.

Soccer stars like David Beckham and Andrés Escobar were victims of some world-famous criminals.

Attack against the England team

During the World Cup 1998 in FranceEngland faced Tunisia, a game that, as ESPN recalls, was on the verge of becoming a tragedy.

The outlet assured that the terrorist Osama bin Laden planned an attack against the English team. Plan that was related by the journalist Adam Robinson who started from the notes written by Ahmed Zaoui, another Al-Qaeda terrorist.

The plan supposed infiltrate terrorists as volunteers and during the game invade the field with a bomb vest and make it explode along with goalkeeper Seaman.

In the midst of the terror, a second infiltrator would throw a Bomb to the English bench and a third terrorist I would shoot the Shearer and then to

I would continue against the stands.

“The Sheikh (the name by which bin Laden was known), asked that we observe the movements of David Seaman, Alan Shearer and Glenn Hoodle (the trainer). His attentions were also drawn to two very well-known young players: Michael Owen and David Beckham. We suggest that the main man should get to Seaman and blow up. That would be the signal for the other brothers to start the rest of the operation” describes the plan.

The police discovered the plan and arrested him.. That day England was victorious by being 2-0.

The team learned of what could have become a tragedy. Robinson expressed that the plan was brutal and bloody.

The murder of Andres Escobar

andres escobar He was the starting central defender for the Colombian team in the 1994 World Cup.

The international media El Clarín recalled what happened on June 22 of the same year. Colombia lost 2-1 to the United States, a game remembered by the goal that Escobar shot into his own goal.

Ten days after the game and the team was eliminated, on July 2 the footballer Andrés Escobar was allegedly murdered by a drug cartel.

The event happened in a parking lot of a disco in Medellín, when he was intercepted by Juan Santiago Henao and Pedro Gallón Henao, the driver of the Carlos Muñoz brothers took out his weapon through the window and shot Escobar.

The media reported that the footballer received six bullet wounds in the lung, stomach, neck and left forearm.

According to the Argentine media, speculation suggests that the attack arose from the criminals and drug traffickers who bet on the national team and due to society immersed in violence, the mistake of having scored a goal against caused his death.

Kidnapping against Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff, a Dutch soccer player, is known for leading the Netherlands to the 1974 World Cup final. Four years later, he was expected to participate.

In 1978, World Cup attention focused on Argentina and one of the favorite teams was the Netherlands, but due to unknown reasons, at that time, the Cruyff player did not participate in the tournament, by personal decision.

In the final the result was 3-1 leaving the Argentine hosts as winners and the Netherlands accepted their defeat.

Due to the absence of Cruyff in the World Cup, various speculations arose that he was against the military dictatorship of those years or that entered into a dispute with the brand Cougarbecause the uniform was from Adidas.

Years later, in 2008, the player revealed the reason why he did not attend. He remembered that in 1977 he and his family were kidnapped by seven men. He had a rifle pointed at his head and his wife was tied up. Despite revealing that information never indicated how the exhaust was.

Because of that, he stated that he did not attend the World Cup for the safety of his family. The middle The vanguard said the player expressed: “There are times when there are other values ​​in life”.

The strange death of Matthias Sindelar

For the Soccer World Cup on 1938, Adolf Hitler entered Austria and unified the soccer teams of the two countries. Josef Herberger, the coach of Germany called up Matthias Sindelar, but he is he always rejected it.

On April 3 of the same year, a match was held between Austria and Germany as a welcome to the unification of the teams, it was believed that they had agreed to a draw, but the final result was 2-0, Austria was the winner.

They assure that during the match Sindelar festejo with such euphoria with a mocking dance towards the Nazi hierarchs and Hitler who were in the front row.

International media indicated that as a result of this event the soccer player lived anonymously and 10 months later he was found dead in his bed. Investigators indicated that he was poisoned by carbon monoxide from a fireplace, but fans indicated that they believed German authorities had murdered him.