Rocio Magnani
11/26/2020 8:51 AM
Clarín.com
Cities
Updated 11/26/2020 9:13 AM
This Wednesday a game must have been played that we did not find out about.
But no.
You have to be an extraterrestrial not to know.
Eight blocks from the Casa Rosada, fans with a Boca or Argentina shirt and a World Cup hat parade to go or return from
the farewell to Diego
, who died of a cardiorespiratory arrest and this Thursday is veiled in a burning chapel in the same place where the remains of Nestor Kirchner were said goodbye.
"Take a picture if you want", they invite and stretch the blue and white lines on the chest.
Being Argentine is by metonymy to love Maradona.
The climate is not festive.
Helicopters can be heard from San Telmo and groups of families and friends are seen advancing from the south towards the Plaza de Mayo.
There are no ages or social classes and something unprecedented happens: there are no songs either.
A crowd advances silently.
Those who were shaking horns and clapping from the balconies last night now gulp.
They are going to meet the hero the way they never wanted to.
Manuel arrived from Solano with his brother.
They carry a bundle on their backs of products that they will sell in the surroundings.
T-shirts at 1,000 pesos and hats at between 300 and 500 pesos with the legend
"Gracias D10s"
stamped on the part that faces the sky.
Clearer impossible.
"We make it ourselves, we don't sleep all night to make them."
People march in silence to say goodbye to Maradona.
Photo Maxi Failla
At 8.10,
the crowded line of faithful
who want to say goodbye to their idol in La Rosada begins at some point on Avenida de Mayo and Tacuarí.
Small spotlights are armed, you see a tide that snakes jumping, they sing at the top of their throats.
The flower and incense stand sells flags for 400 pesos, Piluso hats for 500, roses for 200 and scarves in the shape of a blue triangle that say "Eternal 1960-2020" with the stamp of a Diego with the 10 dribbling a ball.
There are at least ten blocks in the queue to get to Maradona's wake, at the Casa Rosada.
Photo: Luciano Thieberger.
On Avenida de Mayo and Chacabuco, you can see two mobiles of the City Police.
There is little police presence in the blocks surrounding Plaza de Mayo, but in reality it is not necessary because people keep their distance.
The groups just began to crowd as they got closer to the square, and there prefecture personnel intervened to separate the people.
The Argentine flag in the Plaza de Mayo flies at half mast after Argentine President Alberto Fernández announced three days of national mourning for the death of the great Argentine soccer player Diego Maradona, who died at the age of 60.
Photo: Víctor Carreira / telam / dpa
From Neuquén, Ernesto Contreras (60) buys two roses from the white fence.
"I was here for paperwork yesterday at noon and we were shocked by the message on the TV -he account-. We were seized by an attack of terrible sadness. I cried a lot. He was one of the greatest in football, but he was also a person who never lost his identity. For me, he was one of the federals who
always defended the country
, a Belgrano, a San Martín. I'm going to throw these rositas at him and promise him that those of us who remain alive will continue to fight to have a great homeland, a free country, as he dreamed of. ".
NS
Look also
The photos of the massive and moving funeral of Diego Maradona
Look also
Live: Diego Maradona's public wake began at the Casa Rosada, after the farewell to his family
Crying, shouting and applause: the emotion of the thousands of people at Diego Maradona's wake
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