Former Argentine soccer player Roberto Fabián Ayala, a member of Lionel Scaloni’s coaching staff for the Argentine national team, expressed regret over his behavior following the World Cup final and said that if he sees Spain’s Dani Olmo, he will apologize to him “in person” for pushing him.
“Obviously, I regret it. Given my position, I can’t allow a feeling—or whatever reaction I might get from the other party—to affect my mood or my actions. I’m sorry; for me, these are things that are in the past and that’s that,” he said Wednesday in an interview on Esports Migdia on Valencia Capital Radio.
He insists that he only wanted to calm things down
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In that regard, the former Valencia player—with whom he won two La Liga titles, one UEFA Cup, and one UEFA Super Cup—declined to comment on what happened on the field.
And the reason why he shoved Dani Olmo—for which he has been criticized:
“As far as I’m concerned, we need to put this behind us and leave it at that. It was more of a shove than anything else—it wasn’t a punch like they’re making it out to be—and that was the end of it.”
“It was a reaction to a remark, but anyway, if I see him, I’ll obviously apologize to him in person.”
The 53-year-old former soccer player, who played for teams such as Milan and Zaragoza, added.
In addition, Ayala maintained that his intention was to go there to restore calm:
“It’s a shame, and you have to face the facts and take responsibility for what you’ve done on the field.”
“When the game ends, what I see is a scuffle in the middle of the field, and we rush over to get our players out of there—and I want it to end that way because that’s not who we are.”
Obviously I'm sorry
Roberto Ayala
“I take responsibility for what I’ve done.”
“My intention was to go in and break it up—that was my intention—but sometimes things just happen, and your heart’s racing, but that’s no excuse.”
“And because of the position I hold, I have to behave differently, no matter what happens.”
“Eric García was there too, and I just told Eric that I went over to break it up and congratulate him—that’s all,” he explained.
Ayala acknowledged that Spain “was better” and “won the World Cup by playing a very attractive style of soccer that many people enjoy” (Filed under: Roberto Ayala Admits His Mistake Regarding Dani Olmo).
Argentina and the photo taken from behind: “There was no spite”
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Meanwhile, the former defender reflected on an alleged international campaign against Argentina.
“It’s happened thousands of times, but I don’t know why—lately, and especially with our national team—I don’t know if it’s a campaign or something.”
“There was a certain amount of ill will toward our national team—that we play a different kind of soccer…”
“This is the kind of soccer we love; we play to bring joy to our people,” he said.
According to Ayala, “they’re looking for things to make everything seem negative for Argentina,” while “there are thousands of gestures involving Spanish players that they don’t report.”
“We need to practice real journalism—the kind we’ve always done—not the kind practiced by today’s ‘streamers,’ who want to interpret conversations and gestures,” he said (Filed under: Roberto Ayala Admits His Mistake Regarding Dani Olmo).
Explain the controversial gesture
The former soccer player was asked about his decision to turn his back on Spain when he was presented with the World Cup trophy.
To which he replied that all the Argentine national team players were “right there, very close to the Spanish players while they were celebrating.”
However, they later approached the stands where “some family members who had trouble seeing from the stands” were to make sure everything was okay.
And they stayed with the Argentine fans to “thank them for making such a huge sacrifice far from home.”
“We have our backs turned, but the screen is in front of us, and several of us have turned around to watch that moment.”
“We saw it, we were there, and that’s it. It’s not out of spite,” he said (Filed under: Roberto Ayala Admits His Mistake With Dani Olmo).
He asks to turn the page
Finally, he noted, “We’ve all had moments when we reacted in a way we didn’t like and made mistakes.”
“You have to know how to apologize and accept whatever comes next.”
“I want to congratulate all Spaniards on their Cup victory. Enjoy it, and remember that soccer has aspects that fill us with pride and others that we must continue to work on.”
“I have two Spanish children, and I have many friends there; it’s a country I love, and I don’t think we should let things get out of hand.”
“That’s what happened, and given how we behaved, we have to accept the consequences and apologize.”
“Lionel (Scaloni) lives in Spain; he’s always in touch with people there. We all have strong ties to Spain, and we love that country very much.”
“It was just soccer, and we want to leave it at that,” he concluded (Filed under: Roberto Ayala Admits His Mistake Regarding Dani Olmo).
With information from EFE
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