It is mid-afternoon in Buenos Aires and the mother of all celebrations has just begun.
The Obelisk, a giant tower in the middle of the city, is the unofficial meeting point for what has become the world’s biggest street party. Argentina are world champions – and the people of Buenos Aires are here to enjoy themselves.
Walking down Avenue 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world, from the nearby neighbourhood of San Telmo, people jump from handrails onto the tops of bus stops.
Children weave in and out of the crowd spraying parents and strangers with silly foam. “It was like a movie, up, down, up, down, all of it, the climax,” Santiago Rege, 21, an actor, says of the game as he celebrates with his friends on a street corner, shirt open, chest painted, drinking beer, and shouting at cars passing by.
He grins a toothy smile then hugs his friends. I ask a group of Argentine men what it feels like for the country to win the World Cup. One of them kisses me and runs away into the den of drums and horns.
Unfazed by their friend just kissing a stranger, the rest of the group asks if they can have a selfie with me. One of them sprays my glasses with foam.
As I wipe my lips and try to clean my glasses, another one of the friends, Alejandro Talora, an engineer, finally answers my question: “Happiness. Happiness,” he says. “We have immense gratitude for this team.” He then runs towards the Obelisk to catch up with the rest of the group, who already left chanting “Ole, Ole, Ole. Cada dia quiero mas. Soy Argentina” – translated as “Each day I love you more. I am Argentina.”
It is one of the most popular football chants in the country and provides the soundtrack to the party. Thousands of people are on the streets. I walk about 200 metres towards the Obelisk before I get pulled in to a photo with a couple holding a large Argentine flag in the middle of the street.
The traffic light is green, but no one is paying attention. The people have overtaken the streets, the bus stops, the plazas, the statues. As they say here: “Es una locura.” It’s a madness. A person in a dinosaur suit waddles down some steps, while a cavalcade of motorcycles takes over the bus lanes, many of them flying multiple flags and carrying multiple people on a single bike.
A boy in an Argentine jersey with a trumpet under his arm marches by looking determined and his mother trails after him. Just behind them a group of about 30 people carry a massive banner over their heads with the words “Gracias 10” and Diego Maradona’s head painted below it.
