Collisions and injuries after the canceled World Cup celebration
Football fans threaten police officers with glass bottles after the celebration is broken off
Those: AP/Gustavo Garello
Around five million people welcomed the Argentine national team after their World Cup victory in Buenos Aires. The celebration had to be stopped. Hours later, clashes erupted in the city.
SClashes broke out in the capital, Buenos Aires, hours after the Argentine national team’s celebration of the World Cup was broken off. As the US news agency AP reported, citing local media, at least eight people were injured. Photographs showed rescuers wearing helmets and shields standing in formation around the obelisk, around which Argentinian football fans traditionally celebrate victories. According to the information, these were isolated incidents when most of the people were no longer there.
According to media reports, an estimated five million people celebrated on the city streets and tried to catch a glimpse of Lionel Messi’s world champion team at a parade. Because the bus was so slow, the players switched to helicopters and were flown over Buenos Aires. There was criticism of the behavior of the security forces and the lack of organization.
Argentina beat defending champions France 4-2 on penalties in Sunday’s World Cup final. It was the country’s third World Cup victory. The team landed in Buenos Aires early Tuesday morning (local time) and drove through the city in a bus for hours from that morning.
Mass enthusiasm: Numerous football fans are waiting for the Argentine team at the obelisk monument
Those: dpa/Fanchi Claudio
There was a state of emergency in Buenos Aires around the return of the athletes. The fans flocked to bridges and the city freeway, many climbed traffic lights and traffic signs. At around 30 degrees, they waited for hours in the blazing sun for the national team to arrive. The subway service was stopped. The airline Aerolíneas Argentinas warned of problems with delayed flights due to the traffic chaos. The cell phone networks were also overloaded at times.
Messi sat on the bus with four of his team-mates, sipped from a glass in the bright sunshine and waved to the euphoric fans. The golden World Cup trophy was also presented.
The seven-time world footballer published a video with scenes from his career on Instagram. “It was almost three decades in which the ball gave me a lot of joy and also a little sadness. It was always my dream to become world champion and I didn’t want to stop trying even though I knew it might never happen,” he wrote.
Midfielder Thiago Almada posted a photo of Messi with the trophy on Instagram on the roof of the bus, while Rodrigo de Paul posted a video of the players singing and celebrating.
Messi also creates a state of emergency on Instagram
Earlier, Messi kept his fans updated with pictures on social media. After arriving in Buenos Aires at night and driving past thousands of fans, Argentina’s superstar took a little break. And the newly crowned soccer world champion wasn’t alone in bed – next to him the golden World Cup trophy.
The 35-year-old posted three photos on Instagram, on the first he is “sleeping” in bed, his left hand on the cup, on the second he smiles at the camera with a cup, on the third he is with a cup and a mate cup to see. “Good morning!” Messi captioned the photos, which received more than 28 million likes just three hours after publication.
Lionel Messi (centre) waves as he drives into town with the Argentine soccer team
Quelle: dpa/Amarelle Gustavo
In addition, Messi had set a milestone on Instagram. A post by the 35-year-old with photos showing him and the World Cup trophy celebrating after winning the final against France on Sunday received more than 56.2 million likes on the social network by Tuesday morning, and the trend was rising. With this, Messi overtook the post from the account “world_record_egg”, which was previously considered the most liked Instagram post. The photo of an egg was posted on January 4, 2019 with the aim of setting a world record. As of early Wednesday morning, Messi’s photo has garnered more than 67 million likes.
After landing at Ezeiza Airport on Tuesday night, the Argentinian team, which had been on the road for more than 20 hours, first took the bus to the Argentinian association. There, too, thousands of fans had already cheered for their idols. After a short night, the players had breakfast before the parade started.
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