Cartagena (Colombia), Jan 10 (BDNEWS)- Colombia's international footballer Elson Becerra, was shot and killed along with a friend in a Cartagena discotheque, police said.
The 27-year-old Becerra was dancing in a nightclub on Sunday when attackers shot him four times, according to Colonel Mauricio Agudelo, police chief of Bolivar state.
Becerra and his friend, Alexander Rios, allegedly had an argument some days earlier with the unknown assailants who then came to the bar looking for them, the police chief said.
Becerra, a native of Cartagena, played for Colombia when they won the Copa America in 2001 and played in four games for the national team during qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, report agencies.
Most recently, Becerra played club football for Al Jazzira in the United Arab Emirates.
The striker is remembered for trying to help Cameroon's Marc-Vivien Foe after he collapsed on the field during a Confederations Cup game in 2003.
The Cameroon star later died.
Becerra is the latest in a string of Colombian players to be killed violently in their homeland.
In 2004, 37-year-old Albeiro Usuriaga, who helped Colombia qualify for the 1990 World Cup in Italy, was shot and killed when several gunmen opened fire in a popular nightclub district in Cali.
After the 1994 World Cup, Andres Escobar was shot dead outside a Colombian bar days after scoring an own-goal in a first-round match against the United States.
BDNEWS/1140 hrs
