Jáminton Campaz, a 26-year-old Colombian forward, sent the ball over the crossbar in extra time of the match against Switzerland. Colombia were eliminated from the World Cup after losing 4-3 on penalties, and what followed was not just footballing sadness, but death threats.
The player never boarded the flight waiting for him alongside James Rodríguez, Davinson Sánchez and Juan Fernando Quintero bound for Bogotá. He vanished from the radar. No one confirms whether he is still in the United States or traveled to Argentina, where he plays for Rosario Central.
From silence, he posted a message on Instagram asking for respect: “No passion justifies hatred or living in fear”, he wrote. The situation hits hard because it is not new. In 1994, defender Andrés Escobar was murdered in Medellín days after an own goal in another World Cup. Thirty years later, Colombia is once again asking itself how far the fury over a ball that did not go in can go.
