“Thousands of the football-mad supporters have gathered in Kansas City ahead of their opening game against Algeria, and the place was bouncing within hours of their arrival”
The Mirror spent a night with the Argentina army of fans as they invaded the US ahead of their first World Cup game tonight.
It gave a whole new meaning to being a bouncer. Thousands of the football-mad supporters arrived early in Kansas City ahead of their opening game against Algeria.
They turned the city’s beautiful Mill Creek Park into a little corner of Buenos Aires; before long, it was a sea of blue and white flags and posters. I found myself at the centre of a bouncing bomb of blue and white supporters singing lyrics like: “The fans of Argentina are crazy, they go here, they go there, you find them everywhere.”
And of course, there was the old favourite ‘Ar-gen-tin-a’, a chant heard on nearby roads as a cavalcade of cars – including a Maserati—sped past flying the colours of Messi & Co. Many had just made the 5,577-mile, 11-hour flight from Argentina; some had come via other US cities.
But ‘Juan in the Van’ had just driven 1,701 miles – approximately 24 hours and 48 minutes – by road from Miami. Juan Zolochowski, whose Polish grandfather settled in Argentina, spoke very little English.
He was from Quilmes near Buenos Aires and had taken 45 days off work to follow his team across America, with his friend’s family – including his mum, dad and girlfriend.
They were in a White Cruise America Recreational Vehicle; a Class C motorhome built on a heavy-duty Ford E-Series (E-350 or E-450) or Ford F-Series cutaway chassis. It was festooned with Argentine flags and images of the star players.
Not one of its passengers has a ticket; as Juan said about Dallas: “It is an 80,000-seat stadium and tickets are $1,000.”
But he has paid about 100 US dollars a day for the RV with five beds. It will soon carry the entire ‘Juan in a Van’ team to Dallas – another 7-hour, 30-minute, 512-mile road trip – where they play Austria on June 22, and Jordan on June 28.
There were tributes to the footballing gods: Mario Kempes, Diego Maradona and of course Lionel Messi. The local JD Sports was doing a roaring trade in $130 (£96.92) ‘Messi’ shirts of all shapes and sizes, for men, women and children.
But they faced stiff competition: a man in a blue and white wig and matching sunglasses was selling them for $50. I sense they will have to get accustomed to the Argentina team being in town.
The merry band will play on for some time.