Argentine Invasion in Rio Has Fans Sleeping in the Streets and Bathing on the Boardwalk

07/16/2014 - 11h03

Every time the alarm rings, Nahuel Zarate, 27, knows that it's time to open his eyes and move a little to the left.

The alarm clock that wakes the Argentine is the warning that the garage door of the building on the corner of avenida Atlântica and Rua Hilário Gouvêia will open.

It is under the awning of the building that the business student and four of his friends from Bahía Blanca, in the province of Buenos Aires, have slept the last two days since they arrived in Rio to watch Argentina in the final.

They take turns stretching their bodies for a few hours in the car.

Whoever can't get a spot in the vehicle faces the rain soaked ground.

On Saturday morning, June 12, after spending the night in the bars of Lapa, he realized it was "a little harder" to sleep on the floor. "But all this effort is worth it.It's the final of the World Cup!", he said.

"The Argentine fans do not care about comfort."

In the building next door, three Argentines slept on the sidewalk, but in the doorway to the entrance. Doorman Francisco Silva, 42, had to intervene.

"I asked that they not stay in the doorway because residents need to enter and exit. They understood just fine." Silva, who has worked at the building for seven years, says that he had only seen "camping" on Avenida Atlântica during the World Youth Day in 2013.

"It was to see the pope, now it's for football. The Argentines are very excited".

Cars driven by Argentineans have taken over almost all the spaces in Copacabana. Most say they did not try to go to the camps provided by the city because there were no vacancies in some and they were far from the beach.

Estimates by the state government and the Consulate of Argentina are that 100,000 Argentines are in Rio this weekend due to the Cup final.

"Here we have this beautiful beach in front, next to the Fan Fest and bathrooms with showers on the promenade. It's great", stated physical education teacher Pogliese Gabriel, 45, who traveled with his 84 year-old father, his wife and two small daughters.

His van was one of the most photographed on the avenue because of the "kitchen" in the back. Hanging salamis, pasta, biscuits, wine and beer made up necessities.

"You can't miss the chance to be in a Cup next to my country. We don't even care anymore about sleeping sitting up."

His neighbor in the parking space, the merchant Edgardo Perez, 50, also from Santa Fe, provoked Brazilians.

With the car stereo at full volume, he replayed three different versions of the song "Brasil Decime qué se Siente" (which states that Maradona is better than Pelé).

"It's all in peace, but we like a bit of egging on."

The music amused colleagues in the makeshift camp, Gonzalo San Martín, 26, and Juan Ignacio Ortega, 27, who traveled nearly 3,000 miles from Chaco to Rio and prepared lunch outdoors, frying pieces of meat and cooking noodles on top of a bench on the sidewalk.

At night, after Brazil's loss to the Netherlands, the Argentines held a party in front of the luxurious Copacabana Palace. By 8PM, the Military Police calculated that there were 4,000 "hermanos" at the site.

With bass drums and banners with pictures of Pope Francis, they continued to make fun of Brazilians, now with a new song: "Ô, ô, ô, ô/ Te copamos, Rio/ Brasileiro, pecho frío". Gabriel, 29, from Mendoza, who gave no surname, said: "They were 'pecho frío' (apathetic) because they lacked class, clutched in the rout by Germany".

Translated by STEVE HUGHES