They’ve been doing it tough in Argentina. Inflation is at 100%, the economy is on the brink of collapse and the IMF has already stepped in to keep things together. You might say that they’re in need of something to cheer them up.
Well, their team taking home the World Cup for the first time since 1986 is about as good as it gets in that regard, and they’ve been enjoying themselves since the final penalty went in on Sunday afternoon (local time) in Buenos Aires.
The city has been in non-stop party mode, topped off by the street parade that welcome the albiceleste back from Qatar, with an estimated million fans taking to the streets of the capital.
It was said to be the largest gathering of any kind in the history of the South American nation, topping the numbers from 1978 and 1986’s previous victories, and several political demonstrations.
The government declared a public holiday for the arrival of the team early on Tuesday morning, giving everyone the day off to go wild, and they certainly did.
The idea was for the traditional open top bus parade, but that was quashed by security services after the throngs of people proved too difficult for the vehicle to safely navigate.
Instead, they were taken to a local school to disembark from the bus and get helicopters to their training base, offering the players a view of just how many had turned out to see them.
That wasn’t before Emi Martinez, the heroic, penalty-saving goalkeeper, hadn’t managed to wind up the defeated French a little more: the Aston Villa stopper was spotted with a toy baby that had a photo of France superstar striker Kylian Mbappe taped to it.
Fans were spotted leaping from bridges in an attempt to get onto the bus, and a reported 31 were injured and 13 arrested. One was seen on a stretcher, being taken to an ambulance, but still singing along with the fans.
“People are climbing onto structures, street lights, flag poles and they’re all collapsing,” said Nico Cantor, an Argentinian-American football journalist who was present in the city.
“People are falling on top of each other. It’s the definition of unsafe and dangerous. It’s pure pandemonium. How do you control people’s humanity when they’re so blinded by euphoria?”
People were spotted to have scaled to the very top of the structure, which stands at 67m, causing security services to intervene and clear the area of fans.
“We were not allowed to arrive to greet all the people who were at the Obelisk, the same security forces that were escorting us did not allow us to move forward. A thousand apologies on behalf of all the champion players,” said Claudio Tapia, head of the Argentinian Football Association.
The bus had departed the training base at 11.30am Argentinian time, but had covered just a third of the proposed route in over four hours before the cops pulled the plug.
“The world champions are flying over the entire route in helicopters because it became impossible to continue on land due to the explosion of joy,” said a spokesperson for the President of Argentina.
Key players then returned to their home cities, with Lionel Messi and Angel di Maria heading for Rosario, where they were raised, and Paulo Dybala departing for Cordoba.
Buenos Aires was not the only city to see huge celebrations. Huge crowds turned out in Rosario to greet the return on Messi and di Maria, with the stars being mobbed by supporters as they entered their hometowns.
Argentina were also not the only side celebrating. In Rabat, the capital of Morocco, tens of thousands of fans greeted their national team, who acheived a historic fourth place finish at the World Cup.
France were celebrated in the Place de la Concorde in the centre of Paris, with thousands braving the French winter to toast the defeated finallists, while in Zagreb, fans released fireworks and flares in honour of the third-placed Croatian side.
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