Uruguay fired up by hero survivor
URUGUAY’S World Cup dream is being inspired by a man who survived one of sport’s most horrific tragedies.
Gustavo Zerbino, the amateur rugby player forced to eat the body parts of his dead team-mates when the plane taking his Old Christians club to Chile almost 46 years ago crashed, is a key motivational speaker for Oscar Tabarez’s squad.
Zerbino gave Luis Suarez and Co an emotional talk on how to beat even the most outrageous misfortune before the squad left for Russia.
He has worked with the national team for 12 years – helping them reach the semifinals of the 2010 World Cup before winning the Copa America a year later.
Zerbino said: “I told the players to have extraordinary results you have to do extraordinary things. First you have to want it. Then you have to believe it. Then you have to do everything in your power to achieve your goal.
Confidence
“I wished them success and said the country has pride in them. The confidence that gives the players is like putting money in the bank.”
Zerbino was a medical student when the flight carrying Montevideo-based Old Christians crashed over the Andes in October 1972.
Twelve of the 45 passengers and crew perished on impact and five more died soon afterwards.
A rescue was called off when authorities assumed there were no survivors. Without food, the remaining passengers fed on the flesh of their friends to keep alive.
After two months, three survivors were able to trek through snow and ice to get help. Only 16 made it off the glacier and the story was told in the 1993 film Alive.
Zerbino said: “I compared the moments the team had when they were almost eliminated in qualification to the moment the search for us was suspended. You have to live or die – but the one thing for certain was we could only rely on ourselves.”