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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Argentina’s World Cup heroes had to abandon an open-top bus parade in Buenos Aires on Tuesday as millions of ecstatic fans flooded onto the streets and brought the city to a standstill, with Lionel Messi and his teammates whisked into helicopters to complete the celebrations.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The players who were</span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-19-king-messi-reigns-supreme-in-qatar-despite-prince-mbappes-heroics/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> triumphant in Sunday’s World Cup final</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Qatar were unable to reach the central Obelisco monument as planned because the route was completely blocked by the heaving crowd, estimated by local media at over four million people.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1506993\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1245746656-1.jpg\" alt=\"Argentina fans, victory parade\" width=\"720\" height=\"479\" /> Aerial view of the Obelisk as a multitude of Argentine fans gather for the victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team after winning the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 on 20 December, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo: Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With social media footage showing some fans trying to jump onto the team’s bus when it passed under a bridge, the scheduled eight-hour journey was cut short due to security fears. The players were transferred from their parade bus and into helicopters.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The world champions are flying over the entire route in helicopters because it became impossible to continue on land due to the explosion of joy,” presidential spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti wrote on Twitter.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Television images showed people all over the city, including those waiting around the Obelisco and on surrounding highways trying to catch a glimpse of their returning champions.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1507001\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/11206015.jpg\" alt=\"Argentina World Cup squad\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" /> A video grab shows Argentinian national soccer team players during the open top bus parade in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 20 December 2022. Argentina defeated France 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after a 3-3 draw to win the Fifa World Cup 2022 soccer tournament. (Photo: EPA-EFE/Beto Caratozzolo)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s crazy, it’s incredible, it’s the best thing that can happen to you in life,” said 25-year-old metalworker Matias Gomez.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It is an enormous joy to see all these happy people, all together, one with the other, holding hands, giving each other hugs, kisses. We are all one today.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The team had arrived in the early hours of Tuesday at Ezeiza airport. Despite it being around 3am local time (0600 GMT), thousands were waiting with banners, flags and flares and howling with joy after Messi and his teammates ended the country’s 36-year wait to win the World Cup.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1506989\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1245740561.jpg\" alt=\"Argentina fans\" width=\"720\" height=\"468\" /> A fan tries to jump onto the bus carrying Argentina men's national football team as they arrive at the team's headquarters after winning the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 on 20 December, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo: Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By around midday, millions had already congregated in downtown Buenos Aires, with major roads shut down for the parade. People held up banners of Messi and late icon Diego Maradona, played instruments or climbed lamp-posts or bus stops.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Roads started to clear after the players took to the sky in helicopters, with some people left disappointed not to see the team.</span>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Visit <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=in_article_link&utm_campaign=homepage\"><em>Daily Maverick's</em> home page</a> for more news, analysis and investigations</strong>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Argentine capital has been in party mode since the dramatic </span><a href=\"https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3380BI&linkedFromStory=true\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">victory</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> over France in Sunday's final in Qatar, which has helped mask economic woes in the South American nation battling one of the world's highest inflation rates.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The penalty shootout victory made the country world champions for the first time since Maradona hoisted the trophy in 1986 and the third in total.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1507002\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/11206030.jpg\" alt=\"Fans in Argentina\" width=\"720\" height=\"492\" /> Fans of Argentinian national soccer team celebrate during the victory parade of the Argentinian national soccer team in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 20 December 2022 as a mural depicting soccer legend Diego Maradona of Argentina is seen. The parade was stopped early because the streets were overflowing with fans and the Argentine team had to return to the sports venue of the Argentine Football Association located in Ezeiza by helicopter. (Photo: EPA-EFE/Enrique García Medina)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government made Tuesday a national holiday to allow fans to celebrate the win.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I celebrate how the people took to the streets to pay homage to our national team,” President Alberto Fernandez said in a post on Twitter.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1506962\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1245747209.jpg\" alt=\"Argentina fans\" width=\"720\" height=\"481\" /> A fan of Argentina wears face pain with the colors of the Argentine national flag as fans wait for a victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team on December 20, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo: Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Millions of Argentines in the streets, in an uncommon December, which will remain forever in our hearts.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read: </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-20-soccer-is-suffering-and-suffering-is-soccer-but-messi-finally-released-from-his-pain/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Soccer is suffering and suffering is soccer but Messi finally released from his pain</span></i></a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> </span></i>\r\n<h4><b>‘I can’t cry anymore’</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the open-top bus snaked through the city, players danced and cheered with fans who circled the bus. Police were having to hold people back to allow the vehicle to move forward on its slow journey towards the centre of town.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But eventually, they could go no further.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“They don’t let us get to greet all the people who were at the Obelisco. The security agents that escorted us won’t allow us to move forward,” tweeted Chiqui Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“A thousand apologies on behalf of all the champion players,” he added. “Thanks for so much love!! We are the top football nation in the world! The cup is back home.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Messi, 35, has burnished his reputation as one of the world’s greatest ever with the win as Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties after a scintillating 3-3 draw after extra time.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He has said it was his last match in the World Cup, though he plans to play a few more games for the national side. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1506990\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1245745779.jpg\" alt=\"Argentina fans\" width=\"720\" height=\"458\" /> A fan sits on top of a light post as fans gather during a victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team on 20 December, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after winning the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022. (Photo: Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At times it has felt that the whole country has been partying through the night from Sunday onwards in the southern hemisphere summer, the joy of victory infecting everyone with cars regularly blaring their horns in celebration.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“There are people lying on the floor who came straight from the last party to get up and keep partying,” said Elio Maisares, 25, as he celebrated in the city where everyone and everything was covered in the white-and-blue of the “Albiceleste”.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1506966\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1245747250.jpg\" alt=\"Crowds of Argentina fans\" width=\"720\" height=\"482\" /> Aerial view of fans of Argentina gathering at the Obelisk as they wait for the victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team, on December 20, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after winning the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022. (Photo: Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Just look at all this, look at everything that is painted in light blue and white. Along the roads, the highways, all the people are rooting for Argentina,” he said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It's really impressive, it’s unique, what a way to cry. I cried this morning, yesterday, the day before yesterday, I can’t cry anymore, it’s incredible!” </span><b>Reuters/DM</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> </span>",
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"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Argentina’s World Cup heroes had to abandon an open-top bus parade in Buenos Aires on Tuesday as millions of ecstatic fans flooded onto the streets and brought the city to a standstill, with Lionel Messi and his teammates whisked into helicopters to complete the celebrations.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The players who were</span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-19-king-messi-reigns-supreme-in-qatar-despite-prince-mbappes-heroics/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> triumphant in Sunday’s World Cup final</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Qatar were unable to reach the central Obelisco monument as planned because the route was completely blocked by the heaving crowd, estimated by local media at over four million people.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1506993\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1506993\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1245746656-1.jpg\" alt=\"Argentina fans, victory parade\" width=\"720\" height=\"479\" /> Aerial view of the Obelisk as a multitude of Argentine fans gather for the victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team after winning the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 on 20 December, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo: Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With social media footage showing some fans trying to jump onto the team’s bus when it passed under a bridge, the scheduled eight-hour journey was cut short due to security fears. The players were transferred from their parade bus and into helicopters.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The world champions are flying over the entire route in helicopters because it became impossible to continue on land due to the explosion of joy,” presidential spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti wrote on Twitter.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Television images showed people all over the city, including those waiting around the Obelisco and on surrounding highways trying to catch a glimpse of their returning champions.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1507001\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1507001\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/11206015.jpg\" alt=\"Argentina World Cup squad\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" /> A video grab shows Argentinian national soccer team players during the open top bus parade in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 20 December 2022. Argentina defeated France 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after a 3-3 draw to win the Fifa World Cup 2022 soccer tournament. (Photo: EPA-EFE/Beto Caratozzolo)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s crazy, it’s incredible, it’s the best thing that can happen to you in life,” said 25-year-old metalworker Matias Gomez.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It is an enormous joy to see all these happy people, all together, one with the other, holding hands, giving each other hugs, kisses. We are all one today.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The team had arrived in the early hours of Tuesday at Ezeiza airport. Despite it being around 3am local time (0600 GMT), thousands were waiting with banners, flags and flares and howling with joy after Messi and his teammates ended the country’s 36-year wait to win the World Cup.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1506989\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1506989\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1245740561.jpg\" alt=\"Argentina fans\" width=\"720\" height=\"468\" /> A fan tries to jump onto the bus carrying Argentina men's national football team as they arrive at the team's headquarters after winning the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 on 20 December, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo: Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By around midday, millions had already congregated in downtown Buenos Aires, with major roads shut down for the parade. People held up banners of Messi and late icon Diego Maradona, played instruments or climbed lamp-posts or bus stops.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Roads started to clear after the players took to the sky in helicopters, with some people left disappointed not to see the team.</span>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Visit <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=in_article_link&utm_campaign=homepage\"><em>Daily Maverick's</em> home page</a> for more news, analysis and investigations</strong>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Argentine capital has been in party mode since the dramatic </span><a href=\"https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3380BI&linkedFromStory=true\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">victory</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> over France in Sunday's final in Qatar, which has helped mask economic woes in the South American nation battling one of the world's highest inflation rates.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The penalty shootout victory made the country world champions for the first time since Maradona hoisted the trophy in 1986 and the third in total.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1507002\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1507002\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/11206030.jpg\" alt=\"Fans in Argentina\" width=\"720\" height=\"492\" /> Fans of Argentinian national soccer team celebrate during the victory parade of the Argentinian national soccer team in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 20 December 2022 as a mural depicting soccer legend Diego Maradona of Argentina is seen. The parade was stopped early because the streets were overflowing with fans and the Argentine team had to return to the sports venue of the Argentine Football Association located in Ezeiza by helicopter. (Photo: EPA-EFE/Enrique García Medina)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government made Tuesday a national holiday to allow fans to celebrate the win.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I celebrate how the people took to the streets to pay homage to our national team,” President Alberto Fernandez said in a post on Twitter.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1506962\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1506962\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1245747209.jpg\" alt=\"Argentina fans\" width=\"720\" height=\"481\" /> A fan of Argentina wears face pain with the colors of the Argentine national flag as fans wait for a victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team on December 20, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo: Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Millions of Argentines in the streets, in an uncommon December, which will remain forever in our hearts.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read: </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-20-soccer-is-suffering-and-suffering-is-soccer-but-messi-finally-released-from-his-pain/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Soccer is suffering and suffering is soccer but Messi finally released from his pain</span></i></a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> </span></i>\r\n<h4><b>‘I can’t cry anymore’</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the open-top bus snaked through the city, players danced and cheered with fans who circled the bus. Police were having to hold people back to allow the vehicle to move forward on its slow journey towards the centre of town.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But eventually, they could go no further.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“They don’t let us get to greet all the people who were at the Obelisco. The security agents that escorted us won’t allow us to move forward,” tweeted Chiqui Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“A thousand apologies on behalf of all the champion players,” he added. “Thanks for so much love!! We are the top football nation in the world! The cup is back home.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Messi, 35, has burnished his reputation as one of the world’s greatest ever with the win as Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties after a scintillating 3-3 draw after extra time.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He has said it was his last match in the World Cup, though he plans to play a few more games for the national side. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1506990\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1506990\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1245745779.jpg\" alt=\"Argentina fans\" width=\"720\" height=\"458\" /> A fan sits on top of a light post as fans gather during a victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team on 20 December, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after winning the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022. (Photo: Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At times it has felt that the whole country has been partying through the night from Sunday onwards in the southern hemisphere summer, the joy of victory infecting everyone with cars regularly blaring their horns in celebration.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“There are people lying on the floor who came straight from the last party to get up and keep partying,” said Elio Maisares, 25, as he celebrated in the city where everyone and everything was covered in the white-and-blue of the “Albiceleste”.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1506966\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1506966\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1245747250.jpg\" alt=\"Crowds of Argentina fans\" width=\"720\" height=\"482\" /> Aerial view of fans of Argentina gathering at the Obelisk as they wait for the victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team, on December 20, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after winning the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022. (Photo: Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Just look at all this, look at everything that is painted in light blue and white. Along the roads, the highways, all the people are rooting for Argentina,” he said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It's really impressive, it’s unique, what a way to cry. I cried this morning, yesterday, the day before yesterday, I can’t cry anymore, it’s incredible!” </span><b>Reuters/DM</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> </span>",
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Aerial view of the Obelisk as a multitude of Argentine fans gather for the victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team after winning the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 on 20 December, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo: Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images)
A video grab shows Argentinian national soccer team players during the open top bus parade in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 20 December 2022. Argentina defeated France 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after a 3-3 draw to win the Fifa World Cup 2022 soccer tournament. (Photo: EPA-EFE/Beto Caratozzolo)
A fan tries to jump onto the bus carrying Argentina men's national football team as they arrive at the team's headquarters after winning the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 on 20 December, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo: Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)
Fans of Argentinian national soccer team celebrate during the victory parade of the Argentinian national soccer team in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 20 December 2022 as a mural depicting soccer legend Diego Maradona of Argentina is seen. The parade was stopped early because the streets were overflowing with fans and the Argentine team had to return to the sports venue of the Argentine Football Association located in Ezeiza by helicopter. (Photo: EPA-EFE/Enrique García Medina)
A fan of Argentina wears face pain with the colors of the Argentine national flag as fans wait for a victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team on December 20, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo: Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)
A fan sits on top of a light post as fans gather during a victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team on 20 December, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after winning the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022. (Photo: Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)
Aerial view of fans of Argentina gathering at the Obelisk as they wait for the victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team, on December 20, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after winning the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022. (Photo: Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images)