The Casa Rosada was transformed into a funeral parlor, inside, and a stadium, outside.
Thousands and thousands of people marched from 6 in the morning in front of the closed coffin where the remains of Diego Armando Maradona rested.
The footballer's family, led by his ex-wife Claudia Villafañe, decided that the farewell should be brief: until 4 in the afternoon.
The government had planned the farewell ceremony to last two days.
By mid-morning on Thursday, it seemed unlikely that everyone in the two-kilometer waiting line at 11 o'clock would be able to enter the presidential residence.
The strict quarantine rules were blown up.
The borders, closed since March 20, were opened so that the foreign press (more than 800 accredited) could enter the country and cover the event.
People crowded behind the bars that closed the line from Plaza de Mayo to Avenida 9 de Julio.
There was no possible physical distancing: infectologists warned about the possibility of multiple infections of coronavirus.
On the front of the presidential palace, surrounded by flags, a screen offered snapshots of Maradona's life.
The stadium chants ("Let's see, let's see, the one who doesn't jump is an Englishman", "Diego, Diego, Diego"), the banners ("The devil punctured the ball", "The ball is crying"), the itinerant sale of caps, souvenirs, choripanes and empanadas, the abundance of early beer, were transformed into a retreat next to the entrance to the Casa Rosada.
One by one, those who crossed the threshold were sprayed with disinfectant alcohol and ordered not to linger.
Flowers, especially roses, were piled up in a corner.
Inside were Claudia Villafañe, the ex-wife, and her two daughters, Dalma and Giannina, sitting discreetly on one side of the room.
There was nothing planned for the other three extramarital children, but recognized (Jana, Diego Junior and Diego Fernando), neither for those who claim to be children nor for the many former lovers: the dark side of the distinguished soccer player, his chaotic family life, the complaints for domestic violence, it was left out.
Before the burning chapel was opened to the public, the close family, the former members of the legendary Argentine team that won the 1986 World Cup and a few personal guests, among them the recently retired Javier Mascherano, had the opportunity to say goodbye to Maradona in intimacy and with the coffin open.
Pope Francis sent them a rosary.
The night had been rough.
The unbridled intake of alcohol and the presence of a group of "bars" from Boca Juniors led to incidents without serious damage.
When the sun rose, those who had been watching during the night fell and the atmosphere became calmer.
Little by little, the crowd grew.
Despite the fact that long-distance buses, the most popular means of transport in Argentina, do not yet work, fans from other provinces flocked during the day.
People wore jerseys of all teams, with a predominance of Boca Juniors blue and yellow.
"I come from Jujuy, from Jujuy!" Shouted a man who said he had got behind the wheel the day before, as soon as the news of the death was known.
From the screams and laughter, he suddenly went to crying.
The autopsy offered no surprises: Maradona's heart, suffering from a dilated cardiomyopathy for years and with a performance reduced to one third of its capacity, could not continue beating.
The heart attack was accompanied by pulmonary edema.
The lawyer for the dead idol, Matías Morla, described the fact that the first ambulance (a total of nine attended Maradona's home in Nordelta) had taken half an hour to arrive and demanded an investigation.
