Ibson celebrates Flamengo's second goal with Renato Augusto. Fans celebrated at the stadium.

LANCEPRESS!

The match between Ipatinga and Flamengo was the Minas Gerais club's largest-attended match in the Brazilian Série A, with 13.260 paying spectators. And much of the credit goes to the club's fans. The Rio de Janeiro club mobilized its fans from much of the Vale do Aço region, as well as nearby cities like Teófilo Otoni (240 km), Governador Valadares (100 km), and Manhuaçu (200 km), filling much of the stadium. Four buses carrying Flamengo fans arrived from Teófilo Otoni, for example. Some fans even traveled from Porto Seguro, Bahia, for the game.

With the large presence of Flamengo fans in the Ipatingão area, street vendors took advantage of the opportunity to sell counterfeit Flamengo-related merchandise, such as shirts, flags, and hats, which were largely ignored due to the heat exceeding 32 degrees Celsius. A counterfeit jersey, for example, was selling for R$18 at the stadium entrance. The same price applied to the uniforms of Ipatinga, Atlético-MG, and Cruzeiro, also sold around Ipatingão.

To ensure the safety of fans on an unusual day in Ipatinga, 200 police officers worked inside and outside the stadium.