2024-07-22 20:27:13
“The excitement is huge,” said a Colombian fan at the Hard Rock Stadium. Like her, Colombian and Argentine fans took over the Miami stadium on Sunday, convinced that their team was going to win the final. But the vigil was marred in part by an attempt by dozens of fans to enter without a ticket.
Since hours before the start of the match, at 8:00 p.m. (00:00 GMT on Monday), thousands of Colombians and Argentines, two of the largest communities in the city, filled the area around the stadium.
They didn’t care about the 32ºC temperature or the chaos to get here.
To kill the wait, they had barbecues in the parking lots, drank a lot, and chatted or watched the Euro Cup final, which Spain won against England.
But upon entering the stadium, the only important thing was the match between the current Albiceleste champion and Colombia.
“We are excited, we want to fight, we want to give our all in these 90 minutes,” said Andrés Carreño, a Colombian who lives in Ohio and traveled from there for the final. “There is nothing more important than winning, we have not done it for a long time.”
– Incidents –
The good atmosphere, with flags, hats and banners, was marred by incidents at the entrances to the stadium.
At one of those entrances, a group of fans, most of them Colombian, crossed the security checkpoints without a ticket, but the police caught up with them and arrested them.
Minutes later, dozens more people managed to run into Hard Rock Stadium, but it was not clear whether they had tickets or not, a police officer told AFP.
The incident led security to slow down the pace of entry into the facilities, creating a chaotic situation outside the stadium.
“This is a disaster. We have been standing for more than four hours trying to get in. They only opened two doors,” lamented Juan, a fan from Buenos Aires. “There are people fainting, older people and children crying.”
Cecilia Cabarelli, another Argentina fan, shared the anger over this situation.
“They treat us like animals. There is no organization or anything like that. They were not prepared to receive 60,000 people,” he said. “I’m still shaking, I feel like cattle, like a piece of animal.”
– «Messi doesn’t scare me anymore» –
Inside the stadium, those who had escaped these incidents just wanted to enjoy football.
Daniela Ruiz was confident in Colombia and its 28-match unbeaten run before the final.
“The excitement is huge,” said the journalist who traveled from Medellin to support her team. “It won’t be easy because Argentina is a big rival. But we’ve been playing very well.”
For Luciano Mattio, a businessman who traveled from Buenos Aires, the outcome of the match was clear.
“In these opportunities Argentina shows what it is. We have the pressure of having won the World Cup, the previous Copa America, but Colombia needs it more than we do and we are going to win it,” he said.
Daniel Klein, an Argentine who has lived in Miami for 20 years, was even more optimistic.
“We won this game 4-0. I have no doubts, we played perfectly,” he said.
Fans were expecting a great game from their stars.
Klein was clear that the legendary Messi, an idol in Miami since he signed for Inter of the MLS last year, was going to have a great game.
On the Colombian side, some dreamed that James Rodríguez, their captain, would be the decisive player of the night.
“James is Colombia’s idol, he knows he has our full support,” said Lorena Prieto, a Colombian living in New York.
“Messi doesn’t scare me anymore, he’s rusty. We’re new,” he concluded.
© Agence France-Presse
