Players Views

Nolberto Solano

Peru

There's been an increase in racism in Europe recently, particularly at the England vs. Slovakia game. Also there was footage of Newcastle United players getting off the bus in Bosnia and being greeted by monkey noises, did you hear that?
Yeah, I heard that, it's not nice. I come from South America, they make it hard for people. It's a good thing now to try and stop that kind of thing, because in Peru and South America we have many black people, they sometimes are abused like that and no-one seems to worry about it. It's not good for the players or people to hear that kind of thing, because I think everyone is the same, everyone is human.

Can football bring people together?
Football is a great sport, a nice sport for everyone to play. We have been everywhere to play football, we have been to Bosnia, which is a very poor country because of too many wars. It's nice to play there for the people because they don't see as many international teams as we do in this country. I think people need to separate the issue of racism from football. When we were in Bosnia for the Champions league we all heard it and it was very bad for the players, you know. You can see from my skin that my dad was black and my mum was white, so everyone is the same, every person can think and has a heart.

Is Peru a very racially mixed country?
Of course, because the people who originally came to Peru were from Spain. Afterwards many people mixed because people started to come from places like Africa. In South America there are many black people towards the South.

You've been to one of our events which is aimed at young people, what would your message be to a young person who was suffering from racism in Newcastle?
You have to think to yourself it's nothing you know, just walk away. Look to yourself and to your family who love you, everyone in England is the same and there's only one person you have to kick away, that's the ignorant one. I think it's a very great campaign here, it's a good example.

What are your favourite things about Peru and your favourite things about England?
I love my country and my country is very nice to visit. We have many nice people, many polite people in Peru, it's very friendly. We have a very nice coast, a jungle, a nice country. It is difficult to compare with England, because England is different. I like England. You can drive wherever you want to drive, there is respect, it doesn't matter who you are.