The Scorpion King

It's nice to see a familiar face and after my writing of yesterday on the embarrassing situation of not being able to remember someones name when asked to make an introduction I was happy and relieved to recognise Rene Higuita sat in the expensive seats at the World Cup match between his national team, Colombia and Poland.

He has not changed at all since my last seeing him way back in 1995 in the televised highlights of a friendly football match with England at the old Wembley Stadium, London.

Then, as now, he presented a startling and uniquely individual figure with an outrageous permed hairstyle, spiv type moustache and stocky physique which was, based on my experience of other goalkeepers in the game at that time, another very individual characteristic.

1994 sticker but no-show for Rene

That night of 6th September was a pretty dour event with a sparse crowd of only 20,000 at the National Stadium to see a strong home team meet the South American visitors.

Amongst the Terry Venables managed team were the usual suspects of Seaman, Neville, Gascoigne, Rednapp, Barmby and Shearer to name a few and the opposition will have been with the European Championships in mind for the following year.

The result was 0-0 but what was remarkable was the performance of Higuita and his scorpion kick clearance from his goal-line.

It was an audacious, daring and very risky antic but one that had school yard, amateur, semi pro and professional players attempting to replicate the same thing in the following days and weeks.

I expect that the athleticism and co-ordination required to pull off such a stunt may have caused considerable distress and no doubt injuries to those less adept in its delivery.

It has not, to my knowledge, featured in the repertoire of any other goalkeeper since and may not ever be seen again in a competitive situation.

The technical expertise of the current crop of goalies at pro-level does not allow for such flair and recklessness and I find that a shame for on that autumnal London night the few who witnessed first hand (or foot) the scorpion kick will not be likely to forget it.

I have just re-watched the somewhat grainy footage of Higuita's exploit and it has not, after all the intervening years, lost any of its WOW factor.

As for the man himself he may count himself fortunate in getting to the VIP Area of the Kazan Arena for his life and playing career would make for a good movie plot line.

He played for his country in Italy at the 1990 World Cup although was culpable for an error that allowed Cameroon to knock them out in the last 16 phase of the tournament.

A return to the 1994 competition in the USA was not possible for Higuita because of a strange combination of events which had seen him involved in a kidnapping by the drug baron Pablo Escobar.

The infamous narcotics king and Higuita were actually close friends from their Medellin background and acting as go-between in the criminal act had earned the goalkeeper a tidy fixer's fee but also came with a 7 month prison sentence which meant a dramatic decline in fitness and general suitability for a call up to the National Squad.

A few years later whilst still playing at a top level in South America he tested positive for cocaine which attracted a ban.

Always seeking the limelight he then followed  the usual non-sporting route into Reality TV with a stint on Celebrity Island.

He retired from the game aged 42 in 2008 but was in ill health for some years afterwards from a toxic infection thought to have come from his keeping of domestic livestock.

The glimpse of Higuita in Russia today was encouraging in that he looked quite healthy and obviously enjoying Colombia's return to winning ways in this years World Cup Group Stage.

Here is the amazing highlight of that otherwise dismal Wembley friendly

Rene does one