- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Too many fans force police to close roads
- Date: 7th June 2010
- Summary: MAGALIESBURG, GAUTENG, SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 6, 2010) REUTERS LINES OF CARS ON ROADS CONVERGING ON MAGALIESBURG POLICE CAR DRIVING PAST CARS DRIVING SLOWLY/VARIOUS OF CARS TRAFFIC POLICE WAVING CARS ON FAN WALKING WITH PORTUGUESE FLAG FANS WEARING PORTUGAL COLOURS SHOUTING FOR PORTUGAL CAR WITH SOUTH AFRICAN AND PORTUGUESE FLAG FANS WEARING PORTUGAL COLOURS SHOUTING FOR PORTUGAL AND RONALDO AND NANI, WOMAN TRYING TO BLOW VUVUZELA GROUP OF PORTUGAL FANS CHANTING 'PORTUGAL' VARIOUS OF PORTUGUESE FANS CHEERING (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOSE DE SOUZA FROM PRETORIA SAYS: "Well we came here, we waited for them. They came past the road, we supported them then we went to the field to see them train. When we got there we weren't allowed in because we didn't have any tickets, you needed tickets, we came back, we waited for them too leave the hotel and just cheer them on." MAN WITH 'PORTUGAL' SHAVED IN HIS HAIR JOSE DE SOUZA CHEERS ON PORTUGAL
- Embargoed: 22nd June 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: South Africa
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVACPTJ1XIGA1BK5NIBWD8UBYKOI
- Story Text: Thousands of soccer fans, many of them cheering for Portugal, were turned away from the picturesque town of Magaliesburg on Sunday afternoon (June 6) as police decided the crowds were too big.
The Portugal team arrived in South Africa on Sunday morning, travelled to Magaliesburga, small town some 70 kilometres from Johannesburg near which the team will stay, and came out in the afternoon for an open training session.
Around 1,600 tickets were distributed for the hour-long training session at Bekker High School with at least another 400 people trying to watch from the areas behind the ground fencing.
Police closed all roads into the town to incoming traffic, leaving fans to drive around waving flags and hooting car horns.
Jose de Souza from Pretoria said his group had watched the players arrive by bus but could not watch the training session as there did not have any tickets.
"We came here, we waited for them. They came past the road, we supported them then we went to the field to see them train," he said.
"When we got there we weren't allowed in because we didn't have any tickets, you needed tickets, we came back, we waited for them too leave the hotel and just cheer them on."
There are an estimated 500,000 descendants of Portuguese immigrants in South Africa. Portugal's final warmup friendly against Mozambique on Tuesday (June 8) is sold out with organisers saying all 28,000 tickets were bought within 12 hours. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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