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Led by captain Lionel Messi, the World Cup winners returned from Qatar in the early hours of Tuesday morning before a welcome party in the Argentine capital.
Two days after their victory in the World Cup final against France, the Argentine champions landed in the early hours of the morning of Tuesday December 20, cheered by thousands of supporters who came near the airport before an expected communion in the streets of Buenos Aires on Tuesday, declared a public holiday.
The Albiceleste will spend the night in its training center, near the airport, where thousands of fans who have come to wait for them hope to see them. The players will then make a big loop around midday in the city center, celebrated by a huge crowd on top of a double-decker bus. Tuesday has been declared a public holiday by the government.
“One team, one country, one dream”
Leo Messi, captain and emblem of Argentine success in Qatar, was the first to appear at the top of the boarding stairs, brandishing the golden World Cup trophy, to win the red carpet rolled out on the tarmac of the Ezeiza airport.
The Aerolinas Argentinas Airbus A330 bore the inscription “A team, a country, a dream” and on its rear wing are the drawings of Messi or Angel di Maria, the other hero of the final, author of the second goal against France.
“Muchachos” resounded in a loop, a sort of unofficial selection anthem sung loudly by the supporters, which summons, in addition to Messi, the memories of Maradona and his parents Don Diego and Dona Tota, but also the war of the 1982 Falklands between Argentina and the United Kingdom.
The players immediately boarded a white double-decker bus, flocked with 3 stars and the “campeon del mundo”, to go to rest at the nearby training center of the Argentine Football Federation (AFA). Along the way, the players were cheered on by several thousand supporters eager to be the first to salute the heroes of an entire people and finally see the golden trophy they had been hoping for for so many years.
“I would like Messi to sign me a photo”
In the afternoon, in groups, as a family, with tents, camping chairs, parillas, drums, and of course balloons, they posted themselves on the broad shaded sides of the journey of about ten kilometers between the airport and the AFA.
“We’re going to spend the night here. Tomorrow, we’re not working. And we’ll go to the Obelisk, directly following the (team of) Argentina,” Ayrton Kerdocas, a 25-year-old student, told AFP. .
“I came because I would like Messi to sign me a photo. And there, it would be a crazy joy because I am a huge fan”, hopes Javier Merina, a 41-year-old welder.
An impressive cordon of police, with a uniform deployed every 2-3 meters, guarded the perimeter wall of the AFA complex in case of overflow.
Many police officers were also deployed to ensure a quick trip between the airport and AFA. In 2021, when returning from the victorious Copa America campaign in Brazil, the bus had taken four hours to cover these few kilometers. It was out of the question this time.
Meanwhile in Paris, it was the players of the French team, unfortunate heroes of the final, who were cheered by 50,000 supporters on the Place de la Concorde in Paris on their return from Qatar, in an atmosphere of fervor. .
The players appeared on the balcony of the Hôtel Crillon to the cheers of the fans, mostly very young, who waved tricolor flags and chanted “Thank you Blues!” and singing the Marseillaise or the Gala song “Freed from desire”, which became the anthem of the Blues during the World Cup.
Messi on the balcony?
In Argentina, the climax is expected around midday for a large loop in downtown Buenos Aires, from the AFA, “to celebrate the world title with the supporters”, announced in a tweet the “Seleccion”.
The WORLD CHAMPION ???? squad will leave Tuesday at noon for the obelisk to celebrate the world title with the fans.
Yes, we are WORLD CHAMPIONS! ⭐⭐⭐ pic.twitter.com/YIjyyYJS4w
— ???????? Argentina National Team ⭐⭐⭐ (@Argentina) December 19, 2022
The government declared this Tuesday a holiday, thus authorizing a gigantic crowd, which should once again happily exceed one million, to cheer the return of Scaloni’s heroes.
On board the bus, the now Argentine “tri-campeones” will pass by the Obelisk, in the heart of the capital, the center of celebrations on Sunday after the title.
The roads authority, Corredores Viales, has already made detour arrangements to secure the approximately 70 km of the loop that will be made, in anticipation of an inevitable rush. Because among the million supporters who celebrated until late at night, in an indescribable “alegria”, the third world title, many were those resolved to welcome the heroes and prolong the celebration.
An unknown remained on their passage or not on the balcony of the Presidential Palace, the Casa Rosada. Maradona in 1986 appeared there with the trophy. An image that remains in the memories. Many hope Lionel Messi will follow in Maradona’s footsteps and do the same.
With AFP
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