A phrase used by the Uruguay national team social network service (SNS) manager at the Kirin Cup between Japan and Uruguay held at the National Stadium in Tokyo on the 24th caused controversy. Uruguayan media such as ‘El Observador’ and ‘El Pais’ covered the happening on
the Uruguay national team’s official Twitter account 스포츠토토(Seleccion Uruguaya) that day . According to media reports, right after Valverde scored the opening goal in the 38th minute of the first half, Uruguayan Twitter posted “Vola alto, fede” along with a picture of Valverde celebrating a goal. ‘Vola alto’ in Spanish is ‘Fly high’ in English. It is interpreted as ‘flying high’ or ‘successful (to score)’. ‘Fede’ is an abbreviation for Federico, the name of Valverde.
‘Elpais’ said, “Someone took that expression to mean that the bird was flying high toward the target, but others started asking if Valverde died or what happened.” .
As reported, ‘Vola alto’ (Fly high) is also known as an expression used when someone dies. It is used with “Fly high, OO, I’ll remember it forever.”
Valverde seemed to be aware of the controversy in his tweet after the game ended in a 1-1 draw by allowing Nishimura Takuma (Yokohama F. Marinos) to equalize in the 31st minute of the second half. He said, “Calm down. I’m still alive,” with three smiling emojis. He reassured (?) the fans with a witty ‘survival report’ tweet.
Valverde, who wore the Uruguay captain’s armband for the first time in the match against Japan, visited Korea with the Uruguay team. On the 28th, at 8:00 pm at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, we will face off against Korea, led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Korea drew 2-2 with Colombia in Ulsan on the 24th.