Fernando Forestieri made his debut for Oxford City in front of 873 spectators at Hebburn Sports and Social Ground last Saturday, entering the match in the 81st minute as the National League North side sealed a 3-0 win over Hebburn Town. Forestieri, a 36-year-old forward with a career spanning Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s La Liga, is now preparing to face Leicester City in the first round of the FA Cup on Friday evening.
The Argentine-born striker has shared the pitch with football’s biggest names, including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He played in front of more than 70,000 fans at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu during his spell with Malaga in the 2009-10 season and faced Juventus alongside Ronaldo as recently as 2021. Forestieri recalled those moments, telling BBC Sport, “You never forget being on the same pitch as these big players. Messi, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic… unbelievable skills. I’m very lucky. Being that close to them you remember their first touch, their vision.”
His career highlights include scoring against Inter Milan for Siena in 2008 and reaching the Championship play-off final with Sheffield Wednesday in 2016, where they lost to Hull City at Wembley. Forestieri pointed out the contrast between Leicester’s Premier League title-winning team a decade ago and their current standing in League One, adding, “There’s a big gap between what Leicester did 10 years ago and where they are now. Why can’t Oxford City cause an upset? This is what the FA Cup is all about.”
Forestieri’s journey to Oxford City began after he returned to England following the birth of his third son, Luciano. He trained with the Professional Footballers’ Association during pre-season while looking for a club. The connection to Oxford City came through assistant manager Paul Robinson and manager Ross Jenkins, both former teammates of Forestieri at Watford. “Robbo said: ‘why you don’t come here to help us? We’ll help you to become fit,’” Forestieri explained. “For me this is a big change. But I’m so happy to be at Oxford City. They are an ambitious club and I want to help them as much as I can.”
Born in Rosario, Argentina, the same city as Messi, Forestieri grew up idolising Diego Maradona. When Maradona died in 2020, Forestieri paid tribute by writing on the back of his Udinese shirt. He described the influence Maradona had on his childhood: “Growing up in Argentina, everyone pretended to be Diego. He was a hero to everyone. On every corner of every street someone painted his face on a wall.”
Forestieri’s early life was marked by hardship. Raised in a single room shared with his parents and two brothers, he experienced the dangers of Rosario firsthand when his brother Maximiliano was shot but survived. He came through the youth academies of Newell’s Old Boys and Boca Juniors before moving to Italy at 16, qualifying to play for Italy through his grandfather and representing their youth teams.
Despite his age, Forestieri remains active on the pitch while also working on his coaching badges. He lives in north London with his wife, Andria, and their sons Santiago, nine, and Maximiliano, six. “I still have passion for football,” he said. “Whenever I’m walking in the park with Santiago and we see someone playing football, we stop and join in. That’s how much I still love football.”
After the high-profile FA Cup fixture against Leicester City, which is expected to attract a 3,500 sell-out crowd at Oxford City’s Kassam Stadium, Forestieri and his team will travel north to play Darlington in a league match on Tuesday. Reflecting on the physical demands at 36, he said, “You need to listen to your body when you reach 36. But I’m lucky to be still playing and that a club still wants me to play for them.”
According to Yahoo Sports.
