The Barcelona F midfielderThis Thursday, Ermín López renewed his contract with the Barça entity, which expired in 2027, for two more seasons, until June 30, 2029. and with a termination clause of 500 million euros, as announced by the club. The Barça footballer signed his new contract this Thursday in an event with the president of the entity, Joan Laporta; the sports vice president, Rafa Yuste; the manager responsible for youth football, Joan Soler; and the sports director, Anderson Luis de Souza ‘Deco’.
The midfielder from El Campillo (Huelva), 21 years old, He arrived at La Masia in the cadet category from Betis, He burned through all the stages in Barça’s youth football and, after being loaned out for the 2022-2023 campaign to Linares of the Primera RFEF, he established himself last season as an important piece in the first team. After making his debut in an official match on August 27, 2023 in the victory against Villarreal in LaLiga EA Sports, Fermín has scored eleven goals and two assists in 48 games with the Barcelona first team.
And to celebrate it, The man from Huelva once again made his most characteristic gesture. He did it last season, in the Euro Cup and in winning gold in Paris and yesterday, he once again raised his hand to his forehead to celebrate not a goal but his renewal with a military salute that is now part of his DNA.
It is not strange to see players giving the military salute after scoring a goal, Salva Ballesta, Pablo Sarabia and even Cristiano Ronaldo have done it. On occasions, it has even been sanctioned by UEFA, such as in 2019 when the image of the Turkish players giving the military salute to celebrate the goal that earned them a 1-0 victory against Albania in the Euro Cup qualifiers. It led to an investigation and reprimand by the body that governs European football.
But what is the origin of this greeting that the midfielder repeats with each goal?
In the case of Salva Ballesta, the military salute comes from his family’s connection with the Armed Forces and his gesture became so popular that he was named ambassador of the Army brand. Something similar happened with Pablo Sarabia, who explained the celebration of the goal he scored against Croatia in the round of 16 of Euro 2020, with a military salute dedicated to his family. “My father was a soldier and it is a way to dedicate the goal to him and my brother who is a Civil Guard. It was dedicated to them,” he said.
However, in the case of Fermín the reason seems to be more football-related. He did it alone, like yesterday, but also accompanied by some of his colleagues such as Lamine Yamal or Pau Cubarsí.
Tribute to two legends
The reason seems to lie in two Barça legends. The one from Campillo has never explained the reason for his celebration but it is only apparently – as he already did imitating Messi with his goal at the Bernabeu – a kind of tribute to two historic Barça players: Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o. The Frenchman and Cameroonian celebrated on several occasions by giving the military salute, something that the young Blaugrana player wanted to emulate.
The two legendary forwards celebrated the celebration on a couple of occasions and before Fermín and Lamine repeated the military saluteKessié and Aubameyang had already performed as well.
A gesture that does not seem to please all the culés and that has been criticized on social networks throughout the season. “Why is that military salute? I already know that they are young, that when they celebrate they are happy and it requires doing some extravagance, in the end nothing new. I think that Barça should have a pedagogue who would tell them and correct these details,” a user even wrote in “X”.
Where does this greeting with the right hand to the temple come from?
The common military salute, that is, placing the fingers to the temple, It is believed that it arose during the Middle Ages, with the custom of uncovering the face when greeting a comrade in arms. And, to show their faces, medieval knights had to raise the visor of their metal helmets. When this type of helmet with visor stopped being used, The soldiers maintained the custom as a sign of courtesy and respect.