Eliminated by Brazil in the Quarterfinals, the Colombia National Team is Greeted by 120,000 People in Bogota

07/07/2014 - 10h40

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SYLVIA COLOMBO

SPECIAL ENVOY TO BOGOTÁ

"President Pekerman", "Yepes, marry me" and "James, the child prodigy" were some of the hand painted signs by around 100,000 fans that greeted the Colombian national team on their arrival yesterday in Bogota.

The yellow party started early. Starting at 6AM (8AM Brasília time), fans flocked to the Catam military base, on the access avenues to the city center and Simon Bolivar park, a wide green space armed with a stage and some giant video screens to receive fans.

Children amused themselves with a traditional Colombian celebration: throwing flour and cornstarch on passersby.

From 10AM on, a trio of cheerleaders gave thanks to the team and the chorus of the crowd of fans. When the video screens in the park showed the first players to leave the Avianca plane that landed at about 8:30AM, people saluted the team members one by one.

As James Rodriguez appeared, wearing sunglasses and looking down, a huge choir, mostly female, screamed his name. The captain Yepes, another of the players mostly celebrated by the women in the crowd, is departing from the squad having already turned 38 years old.

The bus that brought the players to the park had to travel much slower than was planned, due to the number of people who took to the roads and bridges. It traveled 2km (1.2 miles) per hour, carrying high in the open air, the 23 players and the coach.

Cuadrado was most excited, organizing the choreography made famous during the commemoration of goals in the World Cup.

They all received shirts that they autographed and returned to the public. In the windows and terraces of the buildings located on the avenues, residents waved flags and blew horns.

"It was our most historic participation. Now I'll have something to tell my grandchildren. I've been living a dream in recent weeks", said Carmen, who brought his two teenage kids to the park.

Over the last few days, the police, the media and the mayor asked that fans be moderate in alcohol consumption and pay attention to children.

During previous victory celebrations for the national team, the number of deaths and fights was high: nine people at the team's debut, eight on the day they advanced to the quarterfinals and ten after the game with Brazil.

The figures seem alarming only to foreign correspondents, since the news comes out with very little attention in the media.

According to journalist Mauricio Silva, author of books on the Colombian national team, the tradition of violent celebrations comes from the 1990s. "'The parties end with the bloody mixture of alcohol and localized fights that culminate in death", he explains.

In other major cities around the country, there were other parties also held, particularly in Barranquilla, on the coast, and in Medellin, cities where football is even more popular than in the capital.

President Juan Manuel Santos asked the Colombian soccer federation to confirm the continuation of Argentine coach José Néstor Pekerman in his role.

Translated by STEVE HUGHES

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