FIFA World Cup 2014: Maracana Invaded, Chile Obliges with a Win

RIO DE JANEIRO: Over dinner, Claudio Almonacid reveals that he does not have tickets for the Chile-Spain game the next day. He says he will watch the game at Rio’s de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium.

How will he achieve this? He points to the Copacabana across the road from the restaurant. Many Chilenos, who are drinking and singing merrily at the beach, do not have tickets, he says. There are thousands of Chile fans in Rio de Janeiro for the game.

"We go inside (sic) the Maracana, through the media gate" he explains.

He has no doubt they will succeed in breaking into the famous stadium officially known as the Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho. He pushes his hands forward to show how Chile fans will barge through the security.

A ziplock fannypack slung diagonally across his Chile national team jersey, it is difficult to take Almonacid’s outlandish scheme seriously. Heavilytattooed, he predicts that Chile will top its group by beating Netherlands in the final group game.

On match day, the metro to the Maracana stadium is overflowing with fans in Chile jerseys.

The plan outlined so graphically by Almonacid turns out to be no bluff. Ahead of Chile's Group B clash with Spain, around 100 fans smash through temporary walls around the press centre at the Maracana.

They easily breach the security cordon and sprint through the media section towards the seating area of the stadium. The security is outnumbered and unprepared for the Chilean charge. It nearly works.

Unfortunately for Almonacid and his co-conspirers, they are ultimately rounded up by security officials. The ticketless Chilean invaders face deportation. Now, they will have to leave Brazil within 72 hours.