The victory of La Celeste that opened the way to the final of the U20 World Cup awakened the fever that caused a peak of sales that sold out most of the tourist packages and tickets by boat or plane from Uruguay to Argentina, where, already for the cup, the fans will cheer for their U20 team.
Probably still wrapped in the emotion of having been able to shout a goal and celebrate the victory against Israel by 1-0, the Uruguayan fans did not hesitate to make the decision: they wanted to be in thefinal that will take place this Sunday at the Estadio Único Diego Armando Maradona in La Plata.
At least that's how the heads of some of the travel companies that, once the game was over, on Thursday afternoon, began to receive calls or messages to book tickets and tourist packages describe it in dialogue with the EFE agency.
"At the moment everything was exhausted. We send approximately 500 passengers and, for our part, there are no more places to travel to Buenos Aires, "says Rodrigo Rosales, product manager of the HiperViajes agency.
While explaining that his company still offers both the option of one night's accommodation with admission to the final for $ 250 and the option of two nights of accommodation and entry for $ 290, Rosales says that the complete packages sold out quickly.
"Before we had a complete package with tickets and transfers to the hotel and to La Plata but it's over," says the head of the company that had already sold out its first 150 places for the match of the first semifinal of the U-20 World Cup, in which Uruguay defeated Israel.
Uruguay fans will fill the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in La Plata. EFE/ Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
In the same line is expressed the product manager of the agency Jetmar Viajes, Analía de Castro, who details that her complete packages were sold out.
"The package cost $ 360 per person in double base and included port-hotel-port transfers, two nights in Buenos Aires, transfers from the hotel to the stadium in La Plata and back to the hotel and popular entrance to the final match at the Estadio Único de La Plata," describes who specifies that the boat or plane ticket could be added at a price tied to demand.
According to De Castro, since before the semifinal the company was already selling and had orders but after Thursday's game "exploded" the amount of sales and one of the packages was exhausted, so after the agency arranged "other similar options".
Uruguayan players celebrate in La Plata the qualification to the final of the World Cup. EFE / Demian Alday Estevez
For her part, the commercial manager of the river and land passenger transport company between Argentina and Uruguay Buquebus, Rosario García, says that "immediately" to culminate the duel on Thursday that confirmed the passage of Uruguay to the final "the frequencies began to fill".
"We have modified some of the equipment that we had planned to make those frequencies, we put larger boats so that there is more availability and for the return on Sunday special frequencies were put on," he explains.
According to the manager, although there is no estimated number of tickets, traffic on the company's website increased a lot and the company, which does not sell tickets to the match but bus trips within Uruguay and by boat from Colonia (southwest) and Montevideo to Buenos Aires, added land transfers to La Plata.
"The transfer to and from La Plata is 63 dollars and the tickets that are remaining are, if they do it via Colonia, about 120 or 130 dollars round trip," he says and points out that the most direct ship from Montevideo, with capacity for 1,000 people, is already complete for Saturday and Sunday trips and almost full to return on Monday.
On the other hand, Garcia says that the trips so far of the World Cup in Argentina have been tinged with a special atmosphere.
"It's quite an experience to travel right now because of the atmosphere on the boat, the number of children you see wearing T-shirts and the enthusiasm with which people will cheer them on. It's like the journey already starts when you're up," he says.
Uruguayan fans will arrive en masse in La Plata this Sunday. EFE/ Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
The Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) reported on Thursday, after the semifinal, that the last remaining tickets for the celestial partiality for the final had been exhausted.
According to the local newspaper El Observador, meanwhile, the president of AUF, Ignacio Alonso, led extensive negotiations with the International Football Federation (FIFA) that allowed it to begin releasing tickets "slowly and gradually" on Friday night.
According to this media, Alonso "estimated that there are one hundred thousand Uruguayans who want to come to see the final, when the total number of tickets to be sold can climb, FIFA will, towards 34,000 locations at most".
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