By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
While the players of Brazil and Argentina have urged fans from the two countries to treat the game between their national teams as nothing more than a great sport event, this is probably easier said than done.
Even Brazilian legend and top scorer in Olympic basketball history Oscar Schmidt apparently considers today’s clash as something more than a simple match. When approached by an Argentinian journalist who wanted to talk with him, he replied by saying: “No, we won’t talk. Today we are at war with Argentina.”
It’s quite possible that he was merely joking, but the Olympic Games organization is not. The local authorities and police have orders to be “extra vigilant” in fear of possible violent incidents between the fans. The rivalry of the two South American countries is to be taken quite seriously.
Before the beginning of the game, the teams’ captains, Marcelinho Huertas of Brazil and Luis Scola from Argentina took the microphone and addressed the fans, asking them to be “respectful and calm”.