There was a party, and a lot of it, in Buenos Aires and in the metropolitan area of the capital of Argentina to celebrate the arrival of the three-time world soccer champions in the country.
Lots of parties and lots of people.
The presence of fans was so great that the open car that took the players could not reach the Obelisk, in the center of the city, the place with the greatest concentration of fans and where some of them performed à la Spider-Man, climbing the monument.
According to the AFP news agency, there were from 5 million to 6 million in the streets to celebrate the Argentine achievement in the World Cup in Qatar.
Security, said the authorities accompanying the so-called “caravan of glory”, was compromised, and the sequence of the bus route had to be aborted.
Around 4:30 pm, after traveling slowly for 12 km (the total would be 70 km) in intense heat, Lionel Messi and company used city hall helicopters to return to their point of origin, the AFA (Argentine Football Association) facilities where they were at the beginning of the day.
The landing at Ezeiza airport, in Greater Buenos Aires, took place shortly before 3 am on Tuesday (20).
Messi, star and captain of the team, got off the plane next to coach Lionel Scaloni with the FIFA Cup, his inseparable companion since he received it at the Lusail stadium – he even slept next to it.
Already in the first hours of the delegation on Argentine soil, during the early morning, there were thousands of people wanting to celebrate the champions, so much so that the way from the airport to the AFA training center, also in Ezeiza, was taken by fans.
While the athletes took a few hours of rest, the fans began to fill the points where the champions could pass, such as Plaza de Mayo and around the Casa Rosada (headquarters of the Presidency), as well as the Obelisk. Afterwards, the players left to fraternize with them.
To contain the heat of more than 30°C, water jets were thrown at the fans, who never tired of singing that they were world champions.
In Plaza de Mayo, the expectation for the arrival of the biggest idol, Messi, and the other players was great, and the plan was not to leave the foot until they appeared and waved.
“We’ll stay here all day, or until they [jogadores] arrive. Maradona came here, and Messi will come too. I’m sure,” said administrative assistant Luciana Tadeo, 44, who was accompanied by her husband and 5-year-old son.
She mentioned Diego Armando Maradona (1960-2020), one of the greatest stars in football history, who captained Argentina to the 1986 world title in Mexico.
But, to her frustration and that of thousands dressed in alvicelste who sang songs, shouted and jumped non-stop, Messi did not appear there, or anywhere in the central region of Buenos Aires.
Not for lack of will, but for impossibility in urban mobility. The crowd was so large on the way that the players’ bus stopped, started, stopped, started, moving at minimum speed.
Then there was a change in plans and the deployment of helicopters.
“The world champions are flying over the route in helicopters because it was impossible to continue on land in the face of the explosion of popular joy,” wrote Gabriela Cerruti, spokesperson for the Argentine Presidency, on social media.
The presence of the champions at Casa Rosada was even considered, so that they would wave from the balcony to the fans, however, in light of the chaotic situation, this was discarded.
The president of the AFA, Claudio Fabián Tapia, upon confirming the closure of the caravan, exempted himself, in a post on a social network, from responsibility: “We are not allowed to greet the people who were at the Obelisk. The same security bodies that escorts won’t let us go forward”.
The route was diverted to Parque Roca, about 15 km from the Obelisk, where the helicopters were waiting for the athletes.
In a statement, the Argentine Federal Police said that a helicopter “carries captain Lionel Messi, Lionel Scaloni and [o volante] Rodrigo De Paul, who carry the World Cup”.
According to the text, they would fly over the Obelisk and other areas where fans gather “to greet people” before returning “to AFA property”.
A little later, the newspaper Olé published that Messi and fellow striker Di María had already arrived, in a private flight, in Rosario, their hometown.
Until the beginning of the night, the day marked by crowds, joy and a dose of disappointment due to the logistical failure had registered a death, of a 24-year-old man who fell from a roof. Another 31 people required medical attention.
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