COLOMBIANS SHOW THEY HAVE TALENT TO GO WITH TROUBLES

MONTPELLIER, France -- There has been an element of madness, both comic and
tragic, about Colombia's soccer team since 1990, when its star in the World
Cup was known as "El Loco," or the crazy one.

The crazy one, goalie Rene Higuita, may have cost Colombia a place in the
1990 quarterfinals because he fancied himself a striker. Higuita struck out
just far enough with the ball for Cameroon's Roger Milla to steal it and
score the winning goal.

When Faustino Asprilla, a forward with a wicked talent and a talent for
wickedness, was sent home from this World Cup last week for criticizing his
coach, it was merely the latest in a series of bizarre and terrifying
incidents that have kept the Colombians from realizing their considerable
potential.

Asprilla was angry over being replaced at the end of Colombia's 1-0 loss to
Romania in its World Cup opener. Not even pressure from Colombian President
Ernesto Samper could persuade coach Hernan Dario Gomez to bring back
Asprilla for Monday's game with Tunisia, which ended in a 1-0 Colombia win
in what may wind up as the most
captivating match of the tournament.

Insubordination and offbeat play are actions of minor consequence in
Colombia's soccer saga, which has involved drug money, jail time, death
threats and the murder of Andres Escobar, the player who inadvertently
scored against his own team in the 1994 loss to the United States. That
defeat sent Colombia home after the first round of a tournament many
thought it could win.

"We must live in the present and forget the past," midfielder Mauricio
Serena said before Monday's match, which flowed delightfully back and
forth, end to end, despite the 95-degree heat at Mosson Stadium.

Colombia, which meets England in its first-round finale Friday, still has a
future in this tournament, thanks to Leider Preciado's goal in the 83rd
minute. It was unbelievable that it took that long for a score in a game
played at such a pace that the teams seemed to reduce the field to the size
of a billiard table.

Preciado, a second-half substitute, was set up with a brilliant long pass
from captain Carlos Valderrama, whom Asprilla had singled out for
criticism. Valderrama, 36, who gave away the ball several times earlier,
stole it from Tunisia's Riada Bouazizi at midfield before making the
decisive assist.

"It wasn't an answer to him," Valderrama said. "It was just a pass."

Asprilla's situation could be passed off as a farce compared with the other
problems his national team faces because sinister forces, including the
drug cartels, are involved in Colombian soccer.

Higuita, an admitted friend of Medellin cartel boss Pablo Escobar, spent
six months in prison after being accused of helping negotiate a ransom
payment for a kidnapped girl, but was released when no formal charges were
filed. Although Andres Escobar's killer was not formally tied to drug
dealers, suspicions remain that gambling and drug money were involved in a
murder that took place in Medellin.

Asprilla's Monday replacement, forward Anthony De Avila, dedicated his
winning goal in a 1998 World Cup qualifying match to two jailed cocaine
dealers. A state investigator said last year that people wanted on drug
charges own 80 percent of five teams in the Colombia league's first
division.

Gomez and forward Victor Hugo Aristizabal both received death threats a
month before this World Cup, the second straight time a Colombian World Cup
coach has been similarly threatened before the tournament. That prompted
Asprilla to ask, "What kind of country do we live in?"

It is one in which a coach must be courageous to dismiss a star player,
even a 28-year-old enfant terrible like Asprilla, who has had minor brushes
with the law over public drunkenness, questionable possession of firearms
and kicking a bus after one of his frequent driving mishaps. After making
that decision, Gomez also said he would quit as national team coach after
the World Cup.

The irrepressibly playful Asprilla, whom Gomez has described as "my son,"
defied the limits of benevolent paternalism when he blasted the coach for
playing favorites, notably Valderrama. Asprilla also complained about being
taken out with 5 minutes to play against Romania.

Asprilla's attempts to be reinstated after a half-hearted apology were
rejected by his teammates, who decided to support their coach's decision in
the name of team unity.

"Every chance we had came on a pass by Valderrama," Gomez said. "It was
very important for him to play that way. He is the leader."

The Colombians produced plenty of offense without Asprilla in a game where
there seemed to be a good scoring chance in each of the 90 minutes. The
teams combined for 43 shots and applied so much pressure it produced a
whopping 21 corner kicks, 13 for Tunisia.

The goalkeepers, Farid Mondragon of Colombia and Chokri El Ouaer of
Tunisia, made diving, leaping and sliding saves. The crossbars and posts
also figured prominently.

"I would have liked to be in the stands watching this match, not like you
have to watch it on the bench," Gomez said to a question about how
entertaining it had been. The wonderful madness of a wide-open match makes
little sense to a coach.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)