"My Colombia, please let's never leave respect to the side. We can think differently, feel frustration or sadness but no passion justifies hate and living in fear." That's Jaminton Campaz, 26 years old, asking his own countrymen not to kill him.
Colombia's round-of-16 exit against Switzerland ended 0-0 after extra time, decided on penalties. Campaz — an attacking midfielder who turned the ball over in setting up a chance and then converted his own spot-kick — was singled out after the match and received death threats serious enough that the Colombian Football Federation formally denounced them and called on the Attorney General to open criminal investigations.
The miss that sparked the fury
The moment in question came in the 115th minute. Campaz intercepted a loose pass from Granit Xhaka in a promising position — the kind of chance that looks more dangerous in replay than it does in real time — and dragged his left-footed effort wide. Colombia couldn't score in 120 minutes against a defensively disciplined Swiss side. One missed shot became the symbol of an entire nation's frustration.
He still converted his penalty in the shootout. That part gets forgotten.
The federation's response was swift and unambiguous: "No athlete nor any member of their camp should be the object of intimidations for representing the country on a sporting stage." The Executive Committee backed Campaz and his family publicly and asked authorities to move quickly.
The shadow of Andrés Escobar
Colombia football and this kind of violence have a grim history. In 1994, defender Andrés Escobar scored an own goal as Colombia crashed out of the group stage — a defeat to the USA among the results — and was murdered days later, shot in a car park in Medellín. That chapter remains the darkest in Colombian football history, and it's the reason stories like this one carry a weight that goes beyond routine fan anger.
Campaz plays his club football at Rosario Central in Argentina, away from all of this. He came through Deportes Tolima, scored in Colombia's 3-1 win over Uzbekistan in the tournament, and gave everything across limited minutes. None of that insulated him from what followed the Switzerland defeat.
"Soccer must be a space of unity, respect and hope, never a stage for hate, intimidation and violence," the federation's statement concluded. Strong words. Whether they're enough to change the culture is a different question entirely.
