MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ambassador Castro guest of Manchester City on a lucky derby Sunday

Players sign the Ambassador shirt with her name before the match

Argentine Ambassador Alicia Castro was invited by Manchester City Football Club for the game played on Sunday with the City's traditional rival, Manchester United.

As well as being one of the top premier league fixtures, this particular match was significant for the large number of Argentine players on each side: Sergio Agüero, Wilfredo Caballero, Martín Demichelis and Pablo Zabaleta for Manchester City; Ángel Di María and Marcos Rojo for Manchester United.  

The Ambassador was received by Club officials, who accompanied her on a tour around the Etihad stadium and presented her with an official shirt bearing her name.

Before the derby, Alicia Castro had lunch with, among others, City Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, CEO Ferran Soriano, and football legend Bobby Charlton, whom she offered Argentine wine.

The match was finally won by local's Manchester City with Sergio Kun Aguero scoring the only goal.

At a reception following the game, the Ambassador greeted the Argentine players, and praised their creativity and talent. She also gifted them the recently-published book “Malvinas Matters. Notes from the Embassy of Argentina in London”.

“There are strong cultural links that unite Argentina and the UK, and football is one of them. It is a shared passion between our peoples, demonstrated by the 26 Argentine players playing in the Premier League”, Castro stated.

In May this year, the Ambassador organized a conference in London entitled “Argentina and England: History of a common passion”, led by former world champions and renowned premier league footballers Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa; Argentine journalist Víctor Hugo Morales, Jim White from The Daily Telegraph and Jimmy Burns, a well-known author of several books on the sport.