Mourning in Colombian and world soccer because Wednesday night Freddy Rincón died at the age of 55a three-time World Cup player who wore shirts as important in Europe as those of Napoli and Real Madrid, being part of a golden coffee generation along with Faustino Asprilla, René Higuita, Leonel Álvarez and Carlos Valderrama.
“In the presence of his relatives and with full authorization, I allow myself to inform you that despite all efforts, Freddy Eusebio Rincon Valencia has passed away“, said Laureano Quintero, director of the Imbanaco Clinic in Cali, the city where the former player’s fatal road accident occurred.
What did Freddy Rincón die of?
The former Colombian midfielder was in a serious car accident Monday night when the truck in which he was traveling as co-pilot passed a red light and was hit by a passenger bus, being immediately transferred to the aforementioned clinic, where he remained with assisted breathing.
The first report after the crash rated it at “critical condition” product of a severe cranioencephalic trauma; however, as the hours passed, his situation worsened and on Wednesday night it was declared that Freddy Rincón was brain deadleading to his death this April 13, 2022according to the official statement from the hospital.
Who was Freddy Rincon?
Nicknamed “The Pele” y “The Colossus of Bonaventure”Freddy Rincón was the youngest of eight brothers who became a soccer player characterized by his 1.88 meter tall figure and tremendous physical power with 89 kilograms, standing out in his native country with the clubs Independent of Santa Fe and America of Califrom where he would emigrate to palm trees of Brazil, the first of several Amazonian clubs that he defended in his almost 20-year career.
Europe knocked on his door in 1994just after the World Cup in the United States, to join the Napolithe club that the also deceased Diego Armando Maradona made great and only a year later called him the most winning team, the Real MadridHowever, his time was short-lived because in 1996 he returned to Brazil, from where he no longer left as a player.
Like almost all influential public figures in Colombia in the 1990s, Freddy Rincón was linked to drug trafficking characters, something that at the time prevented him from coming out of retirement as planned. In his long career he played three World Cups and his most memorable moments were the goals against Germany in Italy 90 and the first of the five that they scored against Argentina in the Qualifiers for the USA 1994 at the Monumental in Buenos Aires.