As Argentina progressed through the tournament, support for the Albiceleste in Qatar changed. There are indications of the presence of the notorious ‘barras bravas’ crowd, whose elements are feared for their violence and confrontation with other groups. While Lionel Messi and his teammates thanked the support of the crowd after the victory over the Netherlands on penalties in the quarterfinals , they were accompanied by a melody that is increasingly becoming the soundtrack of the 2022 World Cup.
“I was born in Argentina; Tierra de Diego y Lionel!” sang rows of fans dressed in blue and white who represented the overwhelming majority of the 88,000 fans in the stadium, many twirling their shirts in the air over their heads, in a lilting fashion.
Argentina is the land of Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, and the images of the two demigods of Argentine football adorning fans’ flags, banners and T-shirts make that clear.
But Argentina is also the country of the barra bravas – fans known for their violent profile, but who are responsible for the breathtaking atmosphere and unique culture that have characterized Argentine football over the last century, as much as Maradona and Messi.
And now the barra bravas – which roughly translates to “brave gangs” – also seem to be making their somewhat louder mark in Qatar – and at a tournament marked by the presence of richer fans.
Are there wild bars in Qatar?
With most tickets in the group stage ranging from $69 to $220 (R$370 to R$1,180), rising to $205 to $425 (R$1,100 to R$2,270) in the quarterfinals and starting at an obscene $605 (about 3,235 reais) for the final, the World Cup is usually only accessible to an upper middle class.
But that seemed to change in the quarter-final between Argentina and the Netherlands, in which thousands of Argentine fans could be seen in their seats behind every goal, and even in the stands, fanatically encouraging their compatriots on the pitch.
“I can’t explain this to you because you won’t understand,” chanted the fans. “How many years have I cried for the finals we lost”, recalled the painful defeats against Germany in the 2014 World Cup final, and against Chile in the Copa América final in 2015 and 2016.
For the Argentine newspaper La Nación, it was the culmination of a development that the newspaper has been observing since Argentina’s debut against Saudi Arabia in the World Cup in Qatar, where supporters supporting Argentina were mostly foreign workers residing in Qatar, mostly coming from India.
🇧🇷[Mas] Since then, there has been a change in the behavior of Argentine fans, [cujos] drums, incessant encouragement and flags [são] familiar to our national football”, wrote the newspaper last week and questioning: “Are the barra bravas in Qatar?”
7,000 names handed over to Qatari authorities
As football culture expert James Montague writes in his 2020 book entitled 1312: Among the ultras – A journey with the world’s most extreme fans. free translation), the barra bravas “have existed loosely as rowdy, semi-organized groups of supporters since the 1920s, [mas] became much more structured and hierarchical in the late 1960s and 1970s, when clubs recognized that passionate support could be leveraged to gain an on-pitch advantage.”
In an interview with DW, Montague added that “Argentine governments are known to financially support the main leaders of the barra bravas, whether explicitly or more clandestinely, to take them to World Cups and help create the atmosphere.”
But this is not the case this year. On the contrary, according to La Nación, the Ministry of Security of Argentina forwarded to the Qatari authorities a list of around 7,000 members of the barra bravas who should not receive the Hayya card – a mandatory identification document for supporters at the World Cup.
With the many barra bravas that are often synonymous with football violence and organized crime, Argentine Security Minister Aníbal Fernández reportedly identified the idea of a “World Cup free of barra bravas” as a key element of his election campaign.
However, the Argentine authorities were unable to prevent the travel of supporters without a criminal record. La Nación newspaper reports that elements of the barra bravas behavior seen in several Argentine clubs – including Boca Juniors, Vélez Sarsfield and Racing Club – are present in Qatar.
“They traveled separately and get together on game days. Most of them are staying in Barwa, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Doha, where Argentines with low purchasing power are spending the World Cup”, wrote the newspaper.
“Some sell their cars, and others, the fridge”
For Montague, who has just spent two weeks in Qatar, this is no surprise. “When a South American team goes far in a World Cup, the fans make huge sacrifices and travel in large numbers to support them,” he told DW.
“Of course, those with the most money can go, but that doesn’t mean poorer or working-class fans can’t find ways to travel,” Montague said. “People literally sell everything. Some sell their cars; and others, the refrigerator.”
“There is a mentality among certain fans in South America that if your team is progressing in a tournament, just get there and sort out the rest later. It’s a singular kind of support,” he added.
And this is fiercely independent, active, passionate and unconditional support – in other words, an expression of a living football subculture.
For all their darker sides, the barra bravas also represent the kind of organic support for football that, it seems, FIFA and Qatar don’t want at the World Cup, where fans – or customers, at the their eyes – dutifully attend the fan zones and be passively entertained with pre-game light shows, pop music and countdown to kickoff.
According to Ignacio Candia, national director of security for sporting events at the Argentine Federal Police, who was in Doha for the tournament and who was quoted by La Nación, Qatari authorities were more irritated by Argentine fans taking off their shirts during matches and gathering behind of the goals – and often in seats that are not theirs – with their drums and flags.
I dream of Messi and Maradona
It’s a clash of worlds, but the Barra Bravas fans will once again be in force at the Lusail National Stadium when Argentina face France in the Cup final this Sunday.
They will form a blue and white wave and produce frantic rhythms and momentum in the belief that, after decades of disappointment, this could finally be Argentina’s turn.
“Boys, now we’re dreaming again,” the fans will sing, waving their arms in unison. “I want to win for the third time, I want to be world champion. Diego, we can see you up there in the sky, rooting for Lionel.”
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