RIO DE JANERIO, July 14 � It was unbelievable that I was in the Maracana among 74,738 people, that too watching the World Cup final. A unique experience in deed. The atmosphere in and outside the stadium, before and during the match can�t be imagined.
When I took the metro, at around 12.30 pm, supporters of both the team, weaving their flags and singing national their anthems. There were thousands and thousands of supporters of both the teams with the replicas of their team jersey. They got down from the metro together and headed to the stadium peacefully. Of course it was a neutral venue for both the teams, but for the Argentinean supporters It was like home.
During the match, the whole stadium erupted. Messi was the blue eyed boy for most of the supporters and whenever he received the ball he was cheered. But he was also booed when he failed to hit the target or his pass fails to reach his teammate.
After the match, I tried to get some reactions from the supporters from either sides. When most of the Argentinean supporters broke down after the loss, few of them took it sportingly. But all of them felt sorry for Messi. They reacted sharply over the scoring opportunities he missed. They said player like Messi should have availed the opportunities that he got. The Argentinean supporters also blamed Gonzalo Higuain who squandered the easiest scoring opportunity of the match in the first half.
The German supporters on the other hand were very much happy over the show. They said they created history by winning the trophy in Latin America. It�s a pride for the whole Europe, some of them said. They praised their coach Joachim Loew and captain Philipp Lahm for their leadership quality and the game plan.
One of the remarkable phenomenon I noticed that, after completion of the award ceremony, it took less than one our to clear the whole stadium and finally the fireworks after the closing function was amazing.
