Palmeiras wins the Copa Libertadores, far from his fans

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – In the narrow streets of Allianz Parque, hundreds of Palmeiras fans huddled together, craning their necks to try and catch a glimpse of any TV screen they could find . The pandemic prevented them from making it to the final in Rio de Janeiro. But it also meant that they couldn’t even go to bars and restaurants, which are limited to take out service on weekends.

Instead, fans improvised. A handful of them, residents of the apartment buildings and homes around the stadium, home to their beloved football team Palmeiras, tilted their screens to be seen on the streets outside. Other fans thronged in front of bars and cafes, played by jowls, flags draped over their shoulders.

Their thoughts were 500 miles away, in the sweltering heat of Rio, inside the famous Maracanã, where their team faced rival Santos in the Copa Libertadores final, facing South American club football’s biggest prize. .

In a normal world, of course, many of them would have been there instead, flocking in their tens of thousands, by plane, car and road, just to be there, to festoon the spiritual home of Brazilian football in green and white. It was, after all, a historic moment: the first time since 2006 that the Libertadores final had been played by two Brazilian teams, and the first time it had been played by two teams from São Paulo state.

The vast majority of them couldn’t be there, of course, because it’s not a normal world. Only 5,000 fans were allowed to attend the final in person – all specially selected by the respective clubs, rather than ticket sales, and all, counterintuitively, packed into the few open sections of the 78,000-seat Maracanã rather than to spread out in his vast, largely empty bowl.

But even if the circumstances had changed, the old instincts had not. Over the past 10 months, it has become clear that – no matter the risk or the restrictions – if football is played, for the times that matter most, fans will feel the need to be together.

And that’s how Palmeiras fans came to Allianz Parque on Saturday, the place that looks like them, hours before the start of the match, to drink, sing and wave their flags. They had waited a long time for this – their team had not been crowned South American champions since 1999 – and it would still take 90 minutes of a match defined more by its caution than its quality, played by more teams. conscious. of what could be lost and of what could be gained.

Then, in a burst, it happened. A scrum on the sideline and Santos’ veteran coach Cuca was sent off. The 90 minutes had elapsed, the clock was running deeper and deeper into added time. After eight minutes, Rony, the forward Palmeiras star, conjured a deep and deep cross. Breno Lopes, timing his jump, aimed his head at the Santos goalkeeper.

He ran towards the fans, and they spilled onto the seats to reach him and his teammates. Palmeiras had his victory. And in the narrow streets around Allianz Parque, those who couldn’t be there finally felt like they were there.