Rebeca Hwang, a single mother of two, tells NBC6 about her frustrating experience at the Copa America final.
After realizing the possibility that Argentina was going to make it to the Copa America final, Rebeca Hwang decided to fly from San Francisco to Miami with her two sons to see the anticipated game.
For her two sons, this would have been their first soccer stadium experience, and a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see their favorite national team play in a final.
This was all taken from them when chaos broke out at the entrance of the Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.
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After arriving at the stadium hours in advance in order to get in calmly with her two young children, Hwang was greeted with chaos when thousands of fans were pressed up against the closed gates of the Hard Rock Stadium.
"Lots of people, no crowd control, nobody indicating where the different entrances were. And then it just started to be really confusing, because people in front of us were being faced with closed gates," Hwang said.
"We waited on the side until it calmed down a little bit and by that time they didn't let anybody else in," she said.
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After official confirmation, they realized they weren't going to be allowed in even with valid tickets.
When NBC6 asked Hwang's sons how disappointed they were, they responded with "very, very, very, very."
"It was really crushing, because you know, we are a soccer family, they both play competitive soccer," Hwang said. "There is obviously the trauma of going to an entertainment evening and facing what was really like a battle zone."
Hwang said that she spent around $7,000 on the three tickets alone. That's not including flights, hotels, transportation, and other accommodations.
Hard Rock Stadium has put out a statement regarding Sunday's event, but Hwang has not heard back from Ticketmaster, where she bought her ticket.
"We planned this, we saved for this, we made time for it, and after all the hype and anticipation to be told that you can't get in because some fans who didn't have tickets stole our seats basically, it was crushing," Hwang said.
