WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Colombia Falls Off Perch : Group A: After death threat sidelines Gomez, poor play turns favorite’s showing into a “disaster.”

“This country has suffered a lot. Soccer helps relieve the pain.”

--Colombian Coach Francisco Maturana, on the eve of the World Cup.

The pain for Maturana and his players began before Wednesday’s collapse of the pre-tournament favorites in a shocking 2-1 loss to the United States. Modern technology delivered the unsettling news--via fax machine--to the Colombian team hotel in Fullerton.

It was a death threat. It was a warning that the Colombian home of midfielder Gabriel Jamie Gomez would be blown up. Because of the threat, Gomez, a starter against Romania on Saturday, didn’t play against the United States.

But there was more.

Some Colombian television stations reported that Maturana thought about resigning or did resign for about 10 minutes before FIFA officials talked him into staying. “No, not at all. That’s totally untrue,” Maturana said at a postgame news conference.

World Cup ’94 chairman Alan Rothenberg said he was unaware of the threats. Rose Bowl venue press officer Sue Carpenter said there was no increase in security for the United States-Colombia game, which had already been assigned mid-level security status.

But throughout the game, there were two and sometimes three uniformed policemen in the area between the crowd and the plexiglass shield behind Colombia’s bench. There was security by the U.S. bench, of course, but there were no police behind the plexiglass shield until the final few minutes.

Certainly there was adequate reason for concern. The murder rate in Colombia is about eight times higher than the United States and kidnaping and death threats are a concern for the famous and wealthy. Last year, kidnapers snatched the 4-year-old son of defender Luis Herrera but were captured and the boy was unharmed.

“It is very hard to say who is making these threats,” Gomez told a Colombian television network. “I have no idea.”

Gomez, 34, might have watched his final World Cup game from the bench since it is unclear whether he will play against Switzerland on Saturday.

“This could be the end of my career,” he said. “It’s very painful what has happened to me. To be left off the team because of a death threat is something very sad.”

Afterward, Maturana looked sad rather than angry, almost bewildered by the turn of events. He simply couldn’t understand how his team failed to perform even in an adequate manner despite the on-going controversy.

“Obviously, it’s very clear our participation has been a disaster,” Maturana said. “This is not what people expected of us. We want people to know we’re not happy. We have let everybody down.

“There was the burden of being the favorites. I don’t think we could have tried, even on purpose, to play as bad as we played.”

After a sluggish first half, Maturana resorted to a drastic measure, making two substitutions. One of the players put on the bench was star forward Faustino Asprilla. He dodged a question about the lackluster performance by midfielder Carlos Valderrama, the team captain. But Maturana made it clear he was pleased with no one.

“Lamentably, we can only make two substitutions,” Maturana said. “The ideal substitution would have been to make 11 substitutions.”

He will coach on Saturday against Switzerland at Pontiac, Mich. Then the tough part is ahead for Maturana and his players--returning home to Colombia.

“No one here can ever understand the kind of pressure they’re under at home,” U.S. assistant coach Steve Sampson said.

Which is why Maturana and his players almost dreaded the high expectations created after a 5-0 victory over Argentina in September.

This cautious mind set became clear recently when Maturana said: “I never ask for my check until I am finished with my meal.”