Scorpion kick sensation René Higuita and his infamous relationship with Pablo Escobar

René Higuita was a one-in-a-generation type of goalkeeper, becoming the first keeper to play as an outfield player and play with his feet.

The Colombian goalkeeper spent most of his career in his home country, winning the Colombian League twice and the Copa Libertadores in 1989.

Between 1986 and 1992, René Higuita played for Atlético Nacional, the biggest club in Medellín at the time notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar was causing terror in the city.

Higuita was born into poverty in Medellin and was raised by his mother after his father abandoned him at a young age. He became childhood acquaintances with Pablo Escobar and his brother.

At the height of his fame, Escobar handed himself into the authorities and built his own jail to stay in, called 'La Catedral.'

In 1991, Higuita was the face of Colombian football, Escobar's favorite sport. He was asked to go and visit the drug lord in his new prison.

According to the Netflix documentary, 'The Way of the Scorpion,' when asked if he was Escobar's friend upon leaving 'La Catedral,' Higuita said, 'Yes.'

According to thesun.co.uk, Higuita said: "I was sort of friends with him, but with that 'sort of friends' everyone wanted to peg me as their pal."

"Pablo Escobar was an acquaintance, he reached Congress, and later when he left there, he went underground and went to prison. He was not a politician anymore and was only a drug trafficker and nobody had anything to do with him."

His relationship with Escobar and fellow drug trafficker Carlos Molina was about to put Higuita into trouble of his own.

In 1992, when Escobar had started to lose money and his bank accounts were closed down, he made a desperate attempt to make some cash, kidnapping Carlos Molina's daughter and holding her for ransom.

With Higuita's high celebrity in Colombia, Molina turned to the Colombian goalkeeper to deliver the ransom money and pick up his daughter from Escobar, earning $64,000 for his service.

In Colombia, making a profit from kidnapping is against the law, meaning 'El Loco' had to serve seven months behind bars, putting his footballing career in jeopardy.

After seven months behind bars, the Colombian goalkeeper was released without charge and claimed in his documentary that he would do it again if a child's life was in danger.

'El Loco' was not fit enough to make it into the Columbian World Cup squad in 1994, but he returned to the Colombian National team soon after and created one of the most iconic moments in the sport.

In a friendly against England at Wembley in 1995, a missed kick from Jamie Redknapp was heading towards Higuita in goal. His response was to scorpion kick the ball away from the goal. A legendary moment that hasn't been repeated.