At the "Field of Peace" cemetery in Medellin, Colombia, a man with his wife and son stops at the foot of a grave and quietly shakes his head from side to side. It has been almost four years since Colombian footballer Andres Escobar was murdered, but people still find it hard to accept the senseless waste of his life. The grave of Escobar is well attended and is the only one with bare grass surrounding it, so plentiful are the feet of sad pilgrims.

A group of four teenagers arrive to pay their respects. One of them has been more than 30 times. They sit on his grave, as though wanting to be near to him. The silence is broken only by low-flying planes coming in to land at the airport across the road.

Bill Shankly's famous quote, "Is football a matter of life or death; no it's more important than that", takes on a real meaning when applied to Colombia. Escobar should have been looking forward to this summer's World Cup but was murdered at the age of 27 in his hometown.

A popular misconception about his murder is that he was shot by a hitman, on the orders of a drug cartel that had taken heavy losses gambling on success for Colombia at World Cup '94 in the USA. The truth is that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He made two mistakes.

The first time came when he intercepted a cross in the match against the US to score an own goal which effectively put his team out of the World Cup. The second came when he didn't take heed the advice of team-mate Faustino Asprilla on the premature plane journey home.

Asprilla had told Escobar that he shouldn't go out partying on the town, and that if he did want to go drinking, he should do so at home with friends, until the country had overcome its disappointment with a team that had been expected to do very well.

Shortly after their return, Escobar went drinking with a former player and ended up at the bar El Indio. Set in the hills surrounding Medellin, with a dramatic vista of the city, it was a busy night spot. During a long evening, Andres was teased about the own-goal by a large group containing the Gallon brothers. They abused him even more when television ads appeared showing him endorsing underwear and deodorant.

At 3.30 a.m. as he was getting in a car to leave, he told the Gallon brothers that he was happy to be getting away from idiots that he didn't know teasing him about his autogol. A verbal exchange ensued, during which the slumbering henchman of the brothers woke up and, without asking questions, shot Escobar. The murderer, Humberto Munoz, now serving a 43-year prison sentence, had no interest in football and had never heard of Escobar. He was just "protecting" his bosses.

A less-known story applies to one of Escobar's teammates at World Cup '94. Gabriel Gomez played in Colombia's opening match against Romania which they lost. He was heavily criticised for the defeat. Before the next game, the match against the US, manager Pacho Maturana received a death threat against Gomez. It was one of several.

"But this one had a real menace to it," says Maturana, "I was in my hotel room, checking my messages which were displayed on the television screen, when a message flashed up telling me that if I played Gabriel Gomez in the match against the US he would be killed. I persuaded Gabriel to drop out, although he was reluctant."

Gomez, nearing the end of his professional career anyway, never played another match, but has gone on to become a successful manager in Colombia's top league.

His brother, Hernan Dario Gomez, has been national coach since Maturana left the post after the World Cup. Like his brother, he too was deeply affected by events and thought about leaving football altogether. He was too upset to attend the funeral and still cannot entertain the thought of a visit to the grave.

When I met him he was watching a pre-season friendly between Independence Medellin and Cali America.

The crowd was 27,000-strong and I had difficulty finding him as he sat modestly with his family on the terraces. He knows that he has a tough job ahead in France, but believes there is less pressure this time due to the more realistic expectation of the fans.

When he talks about Escobar, his happy-go-lucky mien deserts him and a shadow falls across him. "Andres was like a brother to me, he was always at our house. When they killed him I thought they were going to come for all of us. When we go to France we will be thinking of him."

With sad irony, one is reminded that Escobar once said "what I like about football is that it doesn't kill anybody". Though this is not strictly true, it is true to say that football is now saving lives in Medellin. Latest figures indicate a marked reduction in the murder rate which has been partly attributed to "Football for Peace".

The initiative was started by young German sports psychologist, Juergen Griesbeck, four years ago and is helping to promote football among neighbouring barrios or districts. There are over 150 teams and the league is still growing. Where gangs would fight, with death often the outcome, they now play football against each other. Its rules have been cleverly devised so that it is compulsory to field at least four women.

The women are said to have a pacifying effect on the men and ensure that conflict is kept to a minimum. As Colombia cautiously looks forward to the World Cup campaign in France, the real battle is being won at home.