Teen soccer player ‘scores’ goal at own funeral in Mexico

Alexander Martínez Gómez was shot in the head by the police in southern Mexico in an alleged case of mistaken identity.

Before his funeral, Martinez’s coffin was placed on a small ground and angled in front of a goal post in Acatlan de Perez Figueroa. Viral footage shows a young boy kicking a football at the casket that redirects it to the makeshift goal as those gathered around break into an applause.

In the final moments, his teammates can be seen surrounding the casket and hugging it in a huge outpouring of emotion.

The young boy played for the lower-division side of Academics de la Universidad del Golfo de Mexico in Orizaba, Veracruz. He was studying at the university after getting a scholarship, ESPN quoted Martinez’s mother Virginia Gomez as saying. However, he returned to Acatlan because training had been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, ESPN reported.

His death has kicked off an uproar in his hometown and people online have been campaigning against police brutalities in the country. With #JusticiaParaAlexander, people have sought strict actions against the police officers responsible for his death.

According to local news agency Quadratín, he was shot from a patrol car by police in an incident that also left his friend injured. “They were in a petrol station buying a soda when they were shot. Because these 15- and 16-year-old boys were scared, they ran,” a cousin of the boy, Dulce Darián told Reforma newspaper.

Prosecutors in Oaxaca have opened an investigation into the shooting in the town of Acatlán de Pérez Figueroa, but provided no details.

However, this is not the first time such a moment went viral. In 2017, something similar happened when a group of friends in Venezuela honoured a 18-year-old by setting up a ‘final goal’ in a football game before his funeral.