RIO DE JANEIRO — About 100 fans busted through a security checkpoint at the Maracana stadium less than an hour before the Spain-Chile game Wednesday, damaging the media room as they desperately ran around in an apparent attempt to get into the game.
The red-shirted Chileans, mostly young men, sprinted through the huge FIFA media center underneath the stands and ran toward a corridor they apparently thought would lead to the grandstands.
But once inside that corridor, they realized it didn't lead to the stands. They broke down a temporary wall, sending metal lockers crashing to the ground, according to AP journalists.
"I was the lone guy standing out there (near entry to press center)," security guard Diego Goncalves said. "All of a sudden they knocked down the fence and just pushed their way through."
One guard grabbed a Chilean by the neck and dragged him away.
Security guards eventually surrounded the group, made them sit on the ground and led them away in a line with each Chilean holding onto the shoulders of another in front of him.