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 dramatic. Higuita's style of play, which was first shown to a global audience during the 1990 FIFA World Cup, was pioneering in influencing goalkeepers to take more responsibility for situations farther from the goal. IFFHS ranked Higuita the 8th best South American keeper in history. He is also ranked as one of the 10 highest-scoring goalkeepers in  history, with 41 goals overall. Early life. Higuita was born in Medellín, Antioquia to Jorge Zapata and Maria Dioselina Higuita. His father left the family when Higuita was a child, so he was raised by his mother. His mother later died when he was very young, so he was taken care of by his grandmother. Club career. Higuita started his playing career with Millonarios and transferred to Atlético Nacional in 1986. He played the majority of his club career with the Colombian side where he helped the team win the Colombian League on two occasions as well as the Copa  Libertadores and Copa Interamericana, both in 1989. After leaving them, he moved to Spain to play with Real Valladolid for one season, before coming back to Atletico Nacional for four years. He then left for Mexico to play for Veracruz before coming back to the Colombian league to play for Atletico's city rivals, Independiente Medellín. He briefly retired in 2005 after failing a drug test while playing for Aucas. He came out of retirement on 21 July 2007 to sign for Venezuelan club Guaros FC. In January 2008, aged 41, he signed for the Colombian second division team Deportivo  Rionegro. In June 2008 he signed for another Colombia team, Deportivo Pereira, and finally retired on 25 January 2010. International career. Higuita's first major tournament was the 1989 Copa América, where the team was knocked out in the first round. In the 1990 FIFA World Cup, he played an important part to lead the country into the round of 16 for the first time ever. However, Higuita's unorthodox playing style caused a mistake by him that knocked Colombia out of the World Cup, when he tried to feint Cameroon striker Roger Milla but failed, and Milla dispossessed him  and scored, which put Cameroon through to the quarter-finals. Higuita described it as "a mistake as big as a house". As a result of such behaviour, Higuita was nicknamed "El Loco" ("The Madman"). He played in the 1991 Copa América where the team finished fourth. His last call up for the national team was for the 1999 Copa América. Higuita often took set-pieces for the Colombian national team, in all, he scored three goals in his 68 international appearances. Style of play. On the pitch, Higuita was known for his dramatic flair, composure under pressure, and eccentric playing  style, often taking unnecessary risks and actively coming out of his area to anticipate opponents, play the ball out to defenders, undertake individual dribbling runs, and attempt to score goals, which led him to be described as a 'sweeper-keeper'; he was therefore a pioneer in influencing other goalkeepers to take more responsibility for situations farther from the goal. Although he was a goalkeeper, Higuita also became known for scoring directly from free-kicks, as well as penalties. IFFHS ranked Higuita the 8th best keeper in South American history. Scorpion Kick. Furthermore, Higuita reportedly invented the scorpion kick, a movement  which involves the player jumping forward, positioning their legs over their head, and in doing so, kicks the ball away with their heels; one of Higuita's most notable uses of the scorpion was when he performed it while clearing a cross from Jamie Redknapp during a friendly against England at Wembley Stadium on 6 September 1995, earning him considerable media attention. It ranked 94th in Channel 4's "100 Greatest Sporting Moments" in 2002. Coaching career. Higuita has expressed the wish to coach the Colombian national team and in December 2008 he got the job of goalkeeper coach for  his former club Real Valladolid. He joined Al Nassr FC in Saudi Arabia in 2011, and was the club goalkeeper coach for about 5 years, until 2016. He rejoined Atletico Nacional on 28 June 2017 after receiving a coaching job as the goalkeeping coach. Upon rejoining, he said "the dream of my life was to return to Atletico Nacional". Personal life. Higuita was friends with Diego Maradona and played in the Argentine's farewell match in 2001. Higuita was imprisoned in 1993 after getting involved in a kidnapping. Acting as a go-between for the drug barons Pablo Escobar and  Carlos Molina, he was largely responsible for securing the release of Molina's daughter by delivering the ransom money. He received $64,000 for his services, which breaks Colombian law as it is an offence to profit from a kidnapping. He was incarcerated for seven months before being released without charge. Commenting on the case, he stated, "I'm a footballer, I didn't know anything about kidnapping laws." In the ESPN documentary "The Two Escobars", Higuita claimed that he was arrested for visiting Pablo during his time in prison with the desire to thank him for turning himself in  thus stabilizing Colombia for a short period. He supported this theory claiming that all he was asked during questioning was solely about Pablo Escobar himself and no kidnapping. Because of the term in prison Higuita was not fit for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In another scandal, he tested positive for cocaine on 23 November 2004 while playing for Aucas, an Ecuadorian football club. In 2005, Higuita participated in the reality TV program "La isla de los famosos: Una aventura pirata" ("The Island of the Famous: A Pirate Adventure"), a show similar to "Survivor". Also in 2005, he underwent plastic  surgery to completely change his appearance. Higuita has expressed the wish to become more politically active. Honours. Atlético Nacional Colombia Individual