Home » Sport » Emotions without applause! The breath of the fans has been absent in the stands

Emotions without applause! The breath of the fans has been absent in the stands

On December 7, 2019, before more than 40 thousand spectators dressed in red at the Pascual Guerrero stadium, America celebrated its star number 14 after having defeated a difficult Junior who, before the final, was the great favorite to stay with title.

While the delirium, the carnival and the streamers came out of all the corners of the stands for an euphoric public, on the grass the players hugged, celebrated and did not tire of dedicating the feat to that hobby that did not stop applauding them.

A year and 20 days later, America returned to celebrate a title, this time in El Campín de Bogotá, after beating Santa Fe, and before a completely empty stadium.

If the final match of 2020 had been in Pascual, the story would have been similar to what was seen in El Campín, absolute loneliness, and very different from that of December 2019, which had a full stadium.

“Unfortunately we could not have the company of the fans that always support us, this is a different celebration, but it played like that,” said Yesus Cabrera, a player for America.

And it is that like America, all the teams in the world of soccer, basketball or other sport, had to get used to the fact that their feats did not have witnesses in the stands as before.

The Barcelona-Real Madrid derby, which won the white box 3-1 on October 24 last year, under normal circumstances would have had more than 70,000 people at the Camp Nou.

But the measures taken by the pandemic made sporting events take place without an audience, and that is why the Spanish press described this duel as ‘the classic of silence’.

“It’s a shame that this kind of game that generates a lot of expectation has been played without fans,” said Real captain Sergio Ramos.
And is that having the crowded stands produces motivation in many players, and panic in others.

“I, at least, was one of the players that the more public I saw, the more I played, because that fascinated me. But there are some who when the stadiums are full, they enter with fear,” said former Colombian World Cup winner Adolfo ‘El Tren’ Valencia to AFP.

Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most applauded, said it was a disappointment to play on empty stages.

“Playing without an audience is like going to a circus without clowns, or a garden without flowers. The players don’t like it, but I’m getting used to it. I meditate before the game with the established idea that the stadium will be deserted ”, reflected the Juventus star.

“We miss the public”
The tennis Grand Slams also had to close their doors and their tournaments during the strong crisis of the pandemic in 2020, but afterwards, they gradually resumed activities with some tournaments without fans.

That produced reactions such as that of the Spanish Rafael Nadal, one of the most admired and who from one moment to the next found himself alone on a track before the rival, the judge and the ‘ball boys’.

“We miss the public, in any event it is a basic part of success and without an audience it is less exciting. I played only three tournaments with an empty stadium and at Roland Garros alone there were about 1500 people in a 17,000 stadium; it is very little, but something is something ”, said Nadal.

Another of the great tennis players in history, the Swiss Roger Federer, also pointed out how hard it is for him to play without an audience in the stands.

“One cannot imagine competing in an empty stadium. As much as when we train there are no people, competing is different. It is difficult for me to play big tournaments behind closed doors,” declared Federer, who like Nadal and Djokovic, is one of the most followed by white sports fans.

The NBA, also hit
Another of the shows that had to restart activities without the encouragement of the fans was the NBA, which was traumatic for big stars.

“I don’t like to play like that, the fans are needed, that’s why I play. I don’t play for my teammates, I play for the fans. If I appear in a pavilion and there are no fans in the stands I would not like to play,” said LeBron James, figure of the Lakers and the NBA.

The basket show had to make a bubble, gather the teams at Disney and restart the tournament until the final phase that the Los Angeles team won, without the color and encouragement of the fans.

The return of the public to the stage has been slow because first
has prioritized health.

But it was clear that in 2020 and part of this year, the goals, the ‘dunks’ in the NBA or a great setback in tennis, to name three of the sports most affected by the pandemic, have had to be celebrated in silence , without the color and emotion that come out from the stands because of a virus that refuses to leave the ‘field’.

Are fans key?
Fans swear that their encouragement is vital for their team to win at home.
And they are not wrong, at least in South America, where in times of empty stands the defeats and draws of the locals have increased.

The presence of fans in the stands seems to influence the home performance of the teams from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, according to a statistical count carried out by AFP on the last three seasons of those leagues, with more winners of the Copa Libertadores.

The pandemic devastated the legendary Maracana, home of Flamengo. In the two-time championship he won with suffering last week on the last day, the ‘Fla’ had a 56% performance in the South American temple.
In 2018 it had been 77% and in 2019 it was 92.9%.

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