Albeiro Usuriaga López (12 June 1966 – 11 February 2004) was a Colombian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''El Palomo'', he played professionally in Colombia, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela, before being murdered at the age of 37.

Club career

Usuriaga first came to prominence with

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the other ...

, scoring four goals in a 6–0 win against

Danubio F.C. Danubio Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan association football, football club based in Jardines del Hipódromo, Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División. Founded in 1945, the club's home stadium is Jardines del Hipódromo Ma ...

for the 1989 edition of the Libertadores Cup and adding another against

Club Olimpia Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan professional sports club based in the city of Asunción. It promotes the practice of various sports, with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, football being the most successful. Fou ...

in the final (2–0 in the second leg in Paraguay), in an eventual

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

win. goalkeeper

René Higuita José René Higuita Zapata (; born 27 August 1966) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was nicknamed ''El Loco'' ("The Madman") for his high-risk ' sweeper-keeper' playing style and his flair for the dr ...

was amongst his teammates. After playing two season halves in Spain with

CD Málaga Club Deportivo Málaga was a Spanish football club based in Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It played twenty seasons in La Liga, before being dissolved in 1992. History Origins The first football club in Málaga was establ ...

–

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

's predecessor – and having a three-year spell with

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 ...

, Usuriaga rarely settled with a team and continuously changed countries, appearing for

Club Atlético Independiente () is an Argentine professional sports club, which has its headquarters and stadium in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its Association football, football team, which plays in the Argentine Primera Divi ...

(two stints),

Club Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

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Club Deportivo Los Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club, known simply as Millonarios, is a Colombian professional Association football, football club based in Bogotá, that competes in the Categoría Primera A, top flight of football in Colombia. It is one of the most success ...

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Deportivo Pasto Asociación Deportivo Pasto, also known as Deportivo Pasto, is a Colombian professional football team based in the city of Pasto, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio Departamental Libertad ...

Club Sportivo Luqueño Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea'' Brands and enterpris ...

and

Carabobo FC Carabobo FC is a Venezuelan professional football team playing at the top level, the Venezuelan Primera División. It is based in Valencia. History Stadium Their home stadium is Estadio Misael Delgado. Titles *Primera División Venezolana ** ...

. In the 1993–94 season, Usuriaga contributed with four goals as Argentina's Independiente won the ''

Clausura The ' () and ' () tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is ...

'' tournament. Three years later, whilst with the same team, he was handed a two-year ban by the

Argentine Football Association The Argentine Football Association (, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine football league system, Argentine league system (from Argentine Primera División, Pri ...

after testing positive for

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

.Former Colombia soccer player Albeiro Usuriaga shot dead
;

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

, 11 February 2004 After playing in various levels of football, he retired from the game in 2003, at the age of 37.

International career

Usuriaga gained 15

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

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 ...

, during three years. His only international goal came during the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

qualification playoffs against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, the only goal in the two legs. Usuriaga was later, however, omitted from the final squad in Italy due to disciplinary problems.

Death

On 11 February 2004, 37-year-old Usuriaga was gunned down while playing a card game in a nightclub district in his hometown of

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

, in unclear circumstances. It later surfaced he was murdered by hired killers, ordered by criminal Jefferson Valdez Marín who was dating his former girlfriend.Conozca la historia de la banda que mató al 'Palomo' Usuriaga (Know the story of the gang who killed 'Palomo' Usuriaga)
;

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

, 3 July 2014

References

External links

Club career

International career

Death

See also

References

External links