MIAMI — The Tartan Army is not receiving the warm welcome in South Florida it did in Boston.
At least not from the Miami Police Department.
Fans of Scotland’s World Cup soccer team spent more than a week singing, dancing and partying in and around Boston while its team played two matches at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, and were praised for their behavior, enthusiasm and philanthropy.
And that included a tradition that started when fans placed orange traffic cones on the heads of statues around the city. Boston officials declared no harm, no foul.
Miami police did not see the humor.
A clip being circulated on social media shows a Scotland fan sticking a traffic cone on the head of a statue depicting Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León in Miami. As he’s preparing to jump down a loud honking noise comes from a police car nearby and someone yells: “Get off of there.”
The fan removes the cone. While holding it over head and before jumping down says: “They’re obviously not Boston.”
One user on social media shared a message that read: “just a heads up, the police are way less chill here. He then came over losing his s***. I think he’s gonna have a long week”.
That starts today. The Tartan Army is looking to takeover the Miami Marlins game against the Texas Rangers, similar to what it did at a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.
The fans will meet at the Ball & Chain restaurant on Calle Ocho in Little Havana and march to the ballpark, led by a group of bag pipers and Marlins mascot Billy The Marlin.
The Tartan Army arrived ahead of the biggest match in the country’s history. Scotland, which last qualified for the World Cup in 1998, faces Brazil at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens June 22 with a chance to qualify for the knockout rounds of the World Cup for the first time.
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami police foil Scotland Tartan Army’s traffic cone tradition
Reporting by Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tom D'Angelo, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
