MIAMI — It was 3:20 a.m. Monday, time to finally head back to my car in the Hard Rock Stadium parking lot after one of the longest and saddest nights of my 37-year sportswriting career.

The parking lot was quiet by then, most of the remaining cars belonging to journalists and stadium workers. When I arrived at that parking spot 12 hours earlier, the scene was absolutely joyful. Latin music and the smell of grilled steak, sausage and chicken filled the air. Hips moved in ways that would make Shakira proud. Gigantic flags flew from cars and were wrapped around fans’ shoulders — the yellow, blue and red stripes of Colombia and the sky blue and white stripes of Argentina.

Defending champion Argentina, led by legend Lionel Messi, and resurgent Colombia, riding a 28-game unbeaten streak, were about to play in the final of the prestigious Copa America. A large group of drum-playing Argentine fans were gathered near my car, singing and chanting about their heroes. Colombian fans in traditional Sombreros Vueltiao roamed over and took selfies with the Argentines.

The opposing fans were all smiles, joking about whether Messi or Colombian star James Rodriguez would walk away with the trophy. These are two of the most passionate soccer fan bases in the world, and they showed it during the Copa.

Times Square looked like Buenos Aires the night before Argentina played in the New York area. Dania Beach, outside the Colombian team hotel during the weekend, looked like Barranquilla or Bogota. Thousands of fans in the streets at organic “Banderazos” (pep rallies), organized by word of mouth through social media in each town their teams played. No violence. Just fun.

It was the same vibe in that Hard Rock Stadium parking lot ... until things got ugly. Very ugly. And scary.

I was already inside the stadium by then, in the press box, prepping for the big game. I had run into Argentine announcer Andres “Gooooooal!” Cantor in the security line and as I entered the elevator I encountered Colombian mop-topped legend Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama, who remembered I had covered him when he played for the Miami Fusion in the late 1990s.

Everyone was pumped for the Copa final.

A few hours later, the ugly images started showing up on social media, and they got more troubling by the minute: A mob of fans trying to breach security gates. Women and children crying in fear. Fans climbing atop the ticket booth, scaling walls and jumping into the spiral walkways to the concourse. Other fans entering the building through what appeared to be air conditioning ducts. The entrance and escalator to the 72 Club luxury seating area vandalized, completely trashed.

As a veteran of 14 Olympics, six World Cups, numerous Super Bowls, Final Fours and countless international soccer matches, many at that very stadium, some involving Colombia and Argentina, I have never witnessed anything like what happened Sunday night.

It broke my heart for so many reasons.

I was sad for my beloved Miami, a crazy, but vibrant melting pot of a city that gets trashed in headlines all too often by people who have never lived here and don’t understand its magic.

I was sad for soccer, the Beautiful Game, a truly global sport that gives me something to talk about with cab drivers everywhere and is an ice breaker with every foreign national I meet here or abroad. The language of soccer is spoken on every corner of the Earth.

I was sad for the tens of thousands of law-abiding and rule-following Argentine and Colombian fans who were at the stadium and were unjustly portrayed in racist, anti-immigrant social media posts. As the daughter of Cuban-Jewish immigrants, it hurts to see venomous comments about the Latin culture, which is, for the most part, warm and welcoming and fun-loving.

It was just a subset of fans that were despicable Sunday night. The vast majority of people at that game behaved perfectly fine. In fact, once the game began, despite heightened emotions and rival fans sitting elbow to elbow, there were no fights in the stands. Nobody stormed the field. Nobody threw projectiles onto the field. It went back to being a giant soccer game between two of South America’s strongest teams.

So, who is to blame for the chaos?

It’s hard to say there was not enough security when nearly 800 police officers were there, which is quadruple what they deploy for Dolphins games and close to Super Bowl numbers. That should have been enough. In fact, they should be praised for keeping the peace during the game after a decision was made to open gates to avoid stampedes, which allowed many non-ticketed fans to enter. Police officers were seen checking tickets row by row, asking non-ticketed fans to vacate the seats.

Hard Rock Stadium hosts Super Bowls, Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, Miami Open tennis, college football games, and huge concerts like Rolling Loud. This has never happened there before.

Stadium officials know how to handle big crowds. They sent out notices through English and Spanish media and on social media warning that only fans with game tickets would be permitted to enter the parking lots and also had electronic signs that read “No tix, no parqueo” around the perimeter of the stadium.

They had the right intentions, but it didn’t go as planned. For one thing, most of those fans who barged in probably do not pay attention to media or instructions. Also, many fans arrived by foot after being dropped off by Ride Shares and other modes of transport, so they never had to pass through the parking lot entrances that were screening cars. There was no secure perimeter keeping pedestrians from entering the parking lot areas, which is something that should be corrected for the 2026 World Cup.

I do think event organizers, which included the stadium, CONMEBOL, and local authorities, could have alleviated some of the tension at the gates by having more Spanish-speaking personnel.

I say this because there was confusion, which resulted in pushing, even mid-afternoon at the Southwest media gate, which opened earlier than the fan gates. Groups of fans, seeing that one gate open, came over and tried to get in ahead of the media members who were waiting to have their bags checked.

The security officers tried to politely explain that they were not permitted there, and to offer instructions on where to go, but it was all in English, and the fans clearly did not understand. I turned to the fans, translated the instructions, and they swiftly turned around and walked away. I then gave each of the security officers a piece of candy from my backpack, anticipating that they were in for a long day and night. Little did I know what was to come for those hard-working staffers.

It would be easy to point fingers solely at CONMEBOL, which was rightly criticized for overall lack of organization and shoddy field conditions at some stadiums. But security seemed fine until Colombian fans fought with Uruguayan players at the semifinal in Charlotte, N.C., and the chaos of Sunday night.

There will be a thorough investigation, some protocols will surely change, but I believe most of the fault lies with that subset of despicable fans who disregarded the law, ignored all rules of civility and tarnished the memory of what was an otherwise exciting, festive game between two soccer-loving nations.

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