Colombia’s hopes of lifting a maiden World Cup were ended after the South American nation lost to England in the penalty shootouts in Round of 16. England took the lead early in the second half with Harry Kane successfully converting a penalty. But Yerry Mina equalised in the dying minute of the match, taking the contest to penalties. England, who had never won a penalty shootout in the World Cup before, managed to scape through with 4-3 scoreline, with Mateus Uribe and Carlos Bacca missing their shots.
The two players received massive threats and insults from furious fans on the social media minutes after the match ended. While Uribe’s penalty hit the crossbar, Bacca’s shot from the spot was saved by England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. The fans wrote that the two players were ‘dead’ and urged them to kill themselves and never to return to Colombia.
The threats were received on the day of the 24th anniversary of Andres Escobar’s death, who was shot after his own goal was blamed for knocking out Colombia in the 1994 World Cup. It is not the first time such an incident has occurred at the World Cup. Earlier, the police launched an investigation into the threats made towards the defender Carlos Sanchez, who received a red card in the third minute of Colombia’s opening match against Japan.