Unseen footage shows how Argentina got Falklands flag as fan unintentionally films World Cup security breach

NEW footage has emerged showing how Argentina’s controversial Falklands flag got onto the pitch moments after their victory over England. Lionel Messi and Co broke the Three Lions’ hearts with a late 2-1 victory in Atlanta. Argentina paraded a controversial banner Credit: AFP The banner prompted fury back in England Credit: AP After the match, Argentina stars caused uproar by posing with a flag that read “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” – meaning The Falklands are Argentine” in English. Premier League stars Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez were both seen holding the flag up alongside ex-Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! Social media user Clara Houssay attended the match. And more than a fortnight on, she realised that she had captured the moment that the flag made its way onto the turf on video. Her clip clearly features the banner being lobbed down from the mob of joyous Argentine fans. Lo Celso is the player that can be seen running over to grab it, before some of his team-mates join in. Argentina’s flag provoked fury in England given the 1982 conflict over the islands that cost hundreds of lives, and that inhabitants have since voted overwhelmingly to remain British. Hothead midfielder Leandro Paredes subsequently doubled down, claiming that the Falklands “will always be Argentine”. Most read in Football BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS Argentina could find themselves in hot water for the banner Credit: Reuters Goalkeeper Emi Martinez praised his team-mates for “playing with a knife between their teeth” and added that England stars “didn’t feel the same way”. But quizzed if the Falklands conflict had played its part in their motivation, Martinez was not convinced. He is quoted as saying, in his native Spanish, “I don’t think it’s because of that. It’s in the past. I wasn’t even born.” Fifa last month opened a disciplinary investigation against Argentina for the flag, as well as for their players’ reactions to losing the final to Spain. Rules ban players from “using a sports event for ­demonstrations of a non-sporting nature”. In 2014, Argentina were hit with a £20,000 fine for holding up a banner with a similar Falklands message before a match against Slovenia. Flags referencing the Falklands were banned from the stadium by Fifa ahead of the match. But security did not spot the message, which was written on a hotel sheet, when the Argentina fan entered the stadium. And it was Lo Celso, rather than the stadium stewards, who was first to the object once it was launched onto the pitch. Comment now