The mania for Messi in Miami —following the arrival of Lionel Messi, the soccer superstar and one of the most famous humans on the planet— went into a frenzy last month when he was spotted at a grocery store buying Lucky Charms cereal and Froot Loops.
Shoppers gasped and took photos with their cell phones. Casual outing? Publicity stunt? Who cared? Messi and his photogenic young family had landed in a soccer-mad region that had been around for years in hopes of catching him. He already looked like a local, wearing shorts and crow’s feet.
South Florida has been consumed by a frenzied fandom for Messi, the Argentine whose signing was a coup for Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami and for Miami itself, the unofficial capital of Latin America. And on July 16, when Messi arrived at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, he thanked the crowd in Spanish “for helping us feel at home so quickly.
“I am very happy that I chose to come to this city with my family.“, said.
The team screened a video montage of Miami celebrities welcoming Messi — Marc Anthony, DJ Khaled, Gloria Estefan — and then presented a concert featuring Latin pop singers Camilo and Ozuna.
Not since basketball star LeBron James declared in 2010 that he would play for the Miami Heat has the region been so enamored with a sports figure. Ever since Messi announced he was joining Inter Miami, artists have rushed to paint murals of him. Restaurants have redesigned their menus to offer versions of what is said to be his favorite dish, breaded meat, known as milanesa.
European and Latin American soccer players, including Messi, 36, have years of buying property and vacationing in South Florida. But few expected Messi, who has played for club teams in Barcelona and Paris, to choose Inter Miami, a bottom-place team, over Saudi Arabia, where he was offered a more lucrative contract.
The Argentine community in South Florida, the largest in the United States, has erupted in jubilation.
“Argentines have an immense sense of pride in Argentina, despite decades of political and economic unrest.said Gabriel Groisman, a former mayor of Bal Harbour, Florida, whose parents emigrated from Argentina in the late 1970s.
When Argentina, led by Messi, won its first World Cup in 36 years last year, caravans festooned with the country’s blue and white flag celebrated in a Miami Beach neighborhood called Little Buenos Aires.
Argentina’s national soccer federation plans to build a $10 million training center between Miami and Miami Beach. Messi reportedly owns a nearby multimillion-dollar condo in an ultra-luxurious tower.
For Argentines, soccer is “like going to church,” said Carlos Delfino, who left Argentina for South Beach more than 20 years ago. He owns Parrilla Liberty, which is a temple to Messi and Diego Maradona, who led Argentina to their 1986 world championship.
In 2018, Maximiliano Álvarez commissioned a mural of Messi for his restaurant, Fiorito, in Miami’s Little Haiti. Messi’s arrival has already attracted more customers.
“That Messi comes here one day, that is the dream,” he said.
PATRICIA MAZZEI. THE NEW YORK TIMES
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6829531, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-08-01 20:50:06
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