Battle at the Boca Game
These dudes love their football.
We went to the stadium at Mar Del Plata for the Boca Juniors Riverplate game. In the cab there, there, the cabbie asked what team we support. Everyone said Boca (they are the most popular team here) except for me, as I apparently support Riverplate. Anyway, turns out the Cabbie is a massive Riverplate fan, so he pretty much made fun of everyone else in the cab and kept giving me conspiring looks and things. Onimiously, he told us that Boca fans are 'loco' (crazy), and that we need to be careful about our cameras and wallets and things.
The capacity of the stadium is about 50,000, and it was a sold out game. The fans of the two teams are spilt up and have to enter through gates on opposite sides of the stadium to avoid fights.
It was pretty crazy just waiting in line. Everyone was cheering and stomping their feet. You really felt part of a mob. There were at least 50 riot police with sheild and batons herding people around. Our tickets were for the nose bleed section of the stadium, where the most passionate fans are. We were starting to feel a bit worried about pick pockets. Guys would openly eye our cameras and watches and stuff in the crowd and we tried to look out for one another. We got in with no incident though. The security was pretty bananas, they check pockets and inside bags.
Inside was amazing though. It's clear football is a religon for these guys. For near the whole time, they cheered, screamed anthems and chanted.
The photos don't really do the atmosphere justice. It was really crazy, a noisy mob focused on cheering their team to victory. I wanted to take more pictures, but I was worried about pick pockets.
Just after half time, a big bunch of Argentinians came up next to us. It seemed a bit weird, but we thought that they were just moving to get a better view.
Suddenly guys started grabbing us. They lunged at our wrists for watches and at our bags. I had no idea what was happening, Sheree was next to me, and we both suddenly fell down three or four stairs. I ended up on my shoulders, with my legs stuck on the ledge above me. Sheree was next to me, and a guy was grabbing for her bag. I turned and fought him off her, when a guy appeared above me, grabbing for my belt, where he thought my camera was. I kicked him in the face, and he disappeared. I got up, and helped Sheree up.
A circle had cleared around us, but no one moved. I looked around the crowd, but it was impossible to tell who was going to attack and who was just watching, everyone was wearing Boca jerseys.
I picked up Sheree and helped her up the stairs to the exit. We climbed the fence, and saw the rest of the guys talking to a whole line of riot police. We ran over.
The police didn't give a #### about us. They didn't help, nor did any of the other fans.
Luckily, noone lost anything, but it was clear they had been targeting us since we got there. They obviously knew who had what on them.
It was seriously crazy. It was a crowded stadium, halfway through a massive soccer game and these guys simply attacked us. They didn't even try to pick pockets, they just came swinging.
Anyway, heading back up to BA tomorrow.
We went to the stadium at Mar Del Plata for the Boca Juniors Riverplate game. In the cab there, there, the cabbie asked what team we support. Everyone said Boca (they are the most popular team here) except for me, as I apparently support Riverplate. Anyway, turns out the Cabbie is a massive Riverplate fan, so he pretty much made fun of everyone else in the cab and kept giving me conspiring looks and things. Onimiously, he told us that Boca fans are 'loco' (crazy), and that we need to be careful about our cameras and wallets and things.
The capacity of the stadium is about 50,000, and it was a sold out game. The fans of the two teams are spilt up and have to enter through gates on opposite sides of the stadium to avoid fights.
It was pretty crazy just waiting in line. Everyone was cheering and stomping their feet. You really felt part of a mob. There were at least 50 riot police with sheild and batons herding people around. Our tickets were for the nose bleed section of the stadium, where the most passionate fans are. We were starting to feel a bit worried about pick pockets. Guys would openly eye our cameras and watches and stuff in the crowd and we tried to look out for one another. We got in with no incident though. The security was pretty bananas, they check pockets and inside bags.
Inside was amazing though. It's clear football is a religon for these guys. For near the whole time, they cheered, screamed anthems and chanted.
The photos don't really do the atmosphere justice. It was really crazy, a noisy mob focused on cheering their team to victory. I wanted to take more pictures, but I was worried about pick pockets.
Just after half time, a big bunch of Argentinians came up next to us. It seemed a bit weird, but we thought that they were just moving to get a better view.
Suddenly guys started grabbing us. They lunged at our wrists for watches and at our bags. I had no idea what was happening, Sheree was next to me, and we both suddenly fell down three or four stairs. I ended up on my shoulders, with my legs stuck on the ledge above me. Sheree was next to me, and a guy was grabbing for her bag. I turned and fought him off her, when a guy appeared above me, grabbing for my belt, where he thought my camera was. I kicked him in the face, and he disappeared. I got up, and helped Sheree up.
A circle had cleared around us, but no one moved. I looked around the crowd, but it was impossible to tell who was going to attack and who was just watching, everyone was wearing Boca jerseys.
I picked up Sheree and helped her up the stairs to the exit. We climbed the fence, and saw the rest of the guys talking to a whole line of riot police. We ran over.
The police didn't give a #### about us. They didn't help, nor did any of the other fans.
Luckily, noone lost anything, but it was clear they had been targeting us since we got there. They obviously knew who had what on them.
It was seriously crazy. It was a crowded stadium, halfway through a massive soccer game and these guys simply attacked us. They didn't even try to pick pockets, they just came swinging.
Anyway, heading back up to BA tomorrow.
posted by undangerman at 10:27 am
1 comments
