More than four million Argentines flooded the streets of Buenos Aires on Tuesday to greet the world champions, and the crowd was so great that the ceremonial parade had to be interrupted.
The bus with the players could not make it to the Obelisk monument in the city center due to security reasons, so the players from the bus had to be transferred to helicopters.
"The world champions are flying over the entire route in helicopters because due to the explosion of popular joy it became impossible to continue the parade," the spokeswoman for the Argentine president, Gabriela Seruti, wrote on Twitter.
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"Let's continue to celebrate in peace and show them our love and admiration."
Argentine media reports that several people were injured during the celebration, and one fan was seriously injured when he tried to jump from the bridge into the bus with the players...
The national team arrived in Buenos Aires in the early hours of Tuesday morning local time, but that did not prevent tens of thousands of people from welcoming their idols and greeting them with loud cheers, chants, pointing out national symbols and lit torches, celebrating winning the world championship title after 36 years of waiting.
By noon, a crowd of millions had gathered in the city, and the main streets were closed for the victory parade. People used every possible surface they could climb on, in order to be as close as possible to the heroes from Qatar.
On many banners, you could see the figures of Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona, the two greatest Argentinian footballers who are considered by many to be the best players in the world of all time.
Argentina and its capital have been in a celebratory mood since Sunday and the end of the final match, in which the Argentines defeated the French. In order for as many people as possible to participate in the ceremonial welcome of the world champions, the Argentine government declared a national holiday on Tuesday.
The police tried to create order and led the bus with the players towards the central city square, but at one point it was no longer possible and the bus stopped in the gathered crowd.
"They didn't let us greet the people who were at the Obelisk. The security guards who followed us didn't let us go any further. A thousand apologies on behalf of all the players of the champion," said the president of the Argentine Football Association, Ćiki Tapia, on Twitter.
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