Marco Tulio Coll Tesillo (23 August 1935 – 5 June 2017), also known as ''El Olímpico'' was a Colombian professional footballer. He played for Junior de Barranquilla and other clubs, and represented

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

in the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place between ...

. He was famous for scoring the first and only

Olympic goal A corner kick, commonly known as a corner, is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defe ...

in any men's

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

, beating legendary goalkeeper

Lev Yashin Lev Ivanovich Yashin (; 22 October 1929 – 20 March 1990) was a Soviet professional footballer considered by many to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the sport. He was the first and only goalkeeper to win a Ballon d'Or, a feat whi ...

in a 4–4 draw against the Soviets in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

Early life

Coll was born in

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...

in 1935.

Career

He started his career with Sporting Barranquilla (1952–55). In 1956, he played for

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club (association football), football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their ...

and played his first match for

in a 1958 FIFA World Cup Qualifier in the same year. He later played for

Deportes Tolima Club Deportes Tolima S.A., commonly known as Deportes Tolima, or simply as Tolima, is a Colombian professional football club based in Ibagué, Tolima Department, that competes in the Categoría Primera A. Founded in 1954, the club has won the C ...

in 1960. Shortly thereafter in 1962 Coll joined

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

where he was remembered with scoring a notable goal. In 1965 he played for

. In the period of 1970-1971 Coll played for

Atlético Junior Club Deportivo Popular Junior F.C. S.A. (), commonly known as Junior de Barranquilla, by its old name Atlético Junior or simply as Junior, is a Colombian professional football team based in Barranquilla, capital of the department of Atlantic ...

after which he retired from his career as a footballer.

1962 Olympic goal

This achievement came in

Arica, Chile Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the cap ...

, on 3 June 1962, during the development of the game between Colombia and the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

of the first round of the World Cup. Colombia was down 4–1. Then they were given a corner kick. Marco Coll kicked the ball and scored a direct goal. Colombia would eventually tie with USSR with goals from Antonio Rada and Marino Klinger. At one interview, Coll claimed he aimed for the goal as the Colombian players were too short compared to their Russian opponents. Coll also said it was the first and only time he ever tried to score a goal from that position. The goal inspired a reaction to tie the game 4–4.

Death

Coll died on 5 June 2017, aged 81, in his native Barranquilla after a short illness.

References

External links