Fernando Zylberberg, former Los Leones captain: ‘The Falklands defy words’ | OneFootball

The semifinal against the English goes beyond football. Someone who knows that well is Fernando Zylberberg, former captain of Los Leones and the face of the iconic ad filmed in the Falkland Islands ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games. In a conversation with ADN Gol on Radio Gol, he recalled that experience and shared his view on the match that has the country on edge.

The ad featuring Fernando Zylberberg.

Zylberberg stressed that the match carries a very strong symbolic weight, although he asked people not to confuse sport with armed conflict. “Comparing a match to a war would be disrespectful. Many 18-year-old boys were sent to a real war. In sport there is a rivalry that is part of the folklore, but it is nothing more than that.”

The former Argentine captain recalled that he spent a week on the islands accompanied by war veterans and admitted that the experience marked him forever. “Being in the Falklands is something very hard to describe. Every time I look at the map of the islands, I get goosebumps. It is an overwhelming silence that makes you constantly think about what happened there.”

He also weighed in on FIFA’s decision to ban flags referring to the Falklands from the stadium where the semifinal will be played. “Sport today provides visibility to express what the Argentine people feel. Banning those flags only makes it even more evident that a conflict exists.”

Lastly, he connected that experience to the present of the Argentina national team and believed that the context could become a boost for the squad.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.