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As day turned to night,the millions of fans still in the city appeared to heed the warning with a potentially febrile atmosphere remaining calm.
Thirty-one people had been injured falling from street and traffic lights having jostled to get a vantage point.
Before the drive-by became a fly-by,the collective energy of the crowds had been chaotic but happy.
Earlier in the day,Gonzalo,23,a gardener,tried to explain the feeling in the streets,“You always see them on the TV,” he said of the team,“but now it’s like they’re gods coming down from the heavens.”
His friend,Salvador,22,also a gardener,said:“They’re like gods from Mount Olympus”. He then posed for a photo with a replica of the World Cup trophy and admitted he did not even know which way they should be walking to see the team,as the route had changed so many times.
A few streets away,people had already started tearing down pieces of fences to make shortcuts on an overpass that had been part of the originally scheduled route. Fans swarmed both sides of the highway,standing between lane barriers,flying massive blue and white flags emblazoned with the Argentine sun. The sun bore down on the crowds below,marching down the asphalt in the humidity and 30-degree heat. Some had been standing alongside the road for hours.
Further down the highway,Mauro,a rubbish collector,28,said the only way he was able to reach here from his home in San Martin was to drive his motorcycle. “On this side of Buenos Aires,it’s not possible to come here right now,” he says. “Only by motorcycle.” He came with his brother and a friend,all of whom were drinking wine with orange juice with large chunks of ice,as they waited for the team in the middle of the highway.
Though people were climbing overpass signs,the sound of drums filled the air and the roar of the occasional jet pierced the din of soccer chants celebrating Messi and Diego Maradona,families were gathered with children and sentiments seemed hopeful to finally give the team the homecoming welcome they deserved.
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Strangers helped mothers with babies in prams up onto the ramps to the parade route,and many more people shared water with those who had come less-prepared. One mother,Madeline,31,said:“I’m in a euphoric state. I want to go up[on to the overpass]. I want to see something.” When asked if she feared for the safety of her family,she said:“No,I’m sure we’ll be safe”.
Prior to the announcement by AFA president Chiqui Tapia to announce the team’s evacuation,the sentiment in the streets was happiness,confusion and hopefulness. Just before the parade,Danillo,24,a jail worker with a bass drum strapped to his chest had been ready to party. Of winning the World Cup,he said “[This is] a feeling that no one is going to feel until they get it. We are going to have a party to celebrate with all the Argentines with the whole world...this Argentine Cup of Mess,and the team. We’re going stay all night,to party,party,party!”
Danillo probably stayed true to his word – bus or no bus.
The Telegraph,London
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