Football fans brave Venezuela's match-night terrors

As dusk creeps into the streets, most of Caracas becomes a ghost town. But something is moving tonight in the shadow of FC Caracas's football stadium.

Fans float in small groups along the sidewalks. The green of the floodlit pitch gleams through gaps in the grey concrete edifice.

FC Caracas need to beat their Peruvian opponents Melgar by three goals in a second-leg game to qualify for the group stages of the Copa Libertadores.

But venturing out on match night in Caracas is about more than sporting odds and rivalries. It means braving crime and shortages.

"The situation the country is in complicates everything. Transport is difficult at night," says Daniel Mendoza, a thin 25-year-old with curly brown hair under a beanie hat.

"Football helps you endure the situation the country is in, for a while."
- Make some noise -
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"In recent years I've started hearing fans yelling against the government" at matches, he says. "I've no doubt there are pro-government people here as well. But there aren't enough of them to make a big noise."
- Match-night security -
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- Room to breathe -
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- No free ride -
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"If your car breaks down and you get stuck by the roadside, you don't know what might happen."