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The city of Melo was deserted. It is true that the heat was very intense and that surely many were just stretching after those naps that are almost an obligation in summer in the cities of the interior. But nothing indicated that a couple of hours later the match between Cerro Largo and National.
The picture was very different from what you usually see when one of the big teams goes inside. In the past it was common to see groups of fans on street corners or in the plaza, chatting and having a little something before heading to the stadium. Or watch them walk through the city in tourist mode, wrapped in their flags.
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None of that happens in times of pandemic. Just a flag hanging from a window or a motorcyclist wearing his team colors on the handlebars. More to the center the movement increased, but zero party atmosphere.
Not even at the Juana hotel, where most of the Nacional delegation has been staying since yesterday —because the health protocol requires one person per room and they stayed in two hotels— were there local fans waiting to see the players.
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Near the Ubilla stadium, a small group of tricolor partials, who had arrived from Montevideo accompanying the team, banked the heat as they could. Only a couple of them wore T-shirts, as most of them were bare-chested.
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