07/09/2021 22:07
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 07/09/2021 22:07
After Conmebol obtained authorization from the Prefecture of Rio de Janeiro so that this Saturday in the Argentina and Brazil final of the Copa América, there would be a 10% capacity,
the search began
for one of those precious 2,200 tickets.
But the procedure was not easy and
tensions
arose
at the Consulate
, where the documents had to be delivered.
While people went up to complete the paperwork and the others waited a lot, some in line explained that they were going to have to stay all night.
For this reason, he began a little song: "Consulate, Consulate, we won't tell you any more, if they don't give the tickets, what a quilombo is going to set up."
The Argentine ambassador to Brazil,
Daniel Scioli
, argued that the process "takes time."
And he explained: "A laminated credential is given with the photo of who goes to the game and identity is checked."
A wine seller who lives 60 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro was the first to receive his entry.
"Daniel Gonzalo Damore. Argentina", reads the ticket that will give him entry to the
electrifying final
at the Maracana
on Saturday
.
Dressed in the Albiceleste shirt, a burgundy cap and a black sanitary mask, the 36-year-old man
ran for a covid-19 detection test
to obtain a ticket for the clash between Lionel Messi and Neymar in the Brazilian temple of football.
From his native Argentina he was warned
early on the authorization of the Rio de Janeiro mayor's office to allow the entry of up to 10% of the maximum capacity of the legendary sports venue for the South American superclassic.
"The feeling is inexplicable because until a few hours ago there were no tickets," he said excitedly outside the Argentine consulate in Rio, the point of delivery of tickets for fans of the two-time world champion.
We are already delivering the accreditations that @CONMEBOL enabled for Argentine residents in Brazil, who will go to encourage tomorrow @Argentina pic.twitter.com/qbq6ukaKLP
- Daniel Scioli 🇦🇷 (@danielscioli) July 9, 2021
"It's a dream come true," he added, almost in a tone of revenge because at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil he saw from the stadium all the matches of Alejandro Sabella's team
except the painful defeat against Germany
in the final in Maracanã itself.
Dozens of people lined up since Friday afternoon at the Argentine diplomatic headquarters, in the traditional neighborhood of Botafogo, to obtain one of the income.
Some were without a mask and others did not respect distancing.
To receive the free pass, applicants
had to show a PCR test with a negative result
for covid-19
and be Argentines residing
in Brazil.
The hosts and defending champions are also entitled to 2,200 innings.
"We came to look for the tickets
without being sure of having them
. We got the PCRs in a matter of an hour, we solved everything between four friends, we took the car and here we are ... Just to see the final", explains Jeremías, who works in a inn in Búzios, a tourist town about 175 kilometers from Rio.
"It is a privilege, when these opportunities come we must not miss them,
we came with everything,
" said the young man, 28 years old.
The final will be the only match of the Copa América 2021 with an audience in the midst of a pandemic
that has hit
the Latin American giant
with special force
.
Brazil, with 212 million inhabitants,
is the second country with the most deaths
(more than 530,000) in
the world
, after the United States.
The designation as host after the departures of the original venues, Argentina and Colombia, provoked strong criticism.
The specialists expressed concern
about the slowness
of the vaccination campaign, the spread of
more aggressive variants
of the virus and the positions of President Jair Bolsonaro against the generalization of preventive measures, such as social confinement and the use of masks.
"At this point in the pandemic,
the solution is already in place
, which is the vaccine. In such a stadium, like the Maracana, I don't see it badly," says Aaron Elías Jaramillo, a 25-year-old salesman.
Beside him, Argentine fans paraded with albiceleste, Boca Juniors or River Plate shirts, and singing the traditional little song that fuels the rivalry between Brazilians and Argentines: "Maradona
is bigger
than Pelé."
"A Copa América final, and against Brazil, is a dream, nothing else can happen," said Juan Pablo, a 35-year-old master builder.
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