“For the Copa América and the World Cup we are preparing something very crazy. When Argentina came here we took a motorhome, a cumbia group and we stayed dancing after the game. The idea now is to do something similar, but much bigger, because being world champions everyone wants to do things more and on my side we are ready for everything to happen for the kids of Miami”, he says Edgardo “Cachito” Cascardothe Argentine fan of Inter Miami, who dreams of receiving the world champion team.
He is preparing for various events for the selected team: the South American Qualifiers, the 2024 Copa América and, further in time, the 2026 World Cup where he will try to defend the crown. Facing these commitments, the Argentine fans look forward to each presentation by Lionel Messi and company, and the city of Miami is no exception. cascardo It is already planning the reception for the champions, since CONCACAF and CONMEBOL reached an agreement to jointly organize Copa América 2024 in the United States, while the 2026 World Cup will also take place in that country, along with Mexico and Canada. .
True to his passion, Cascardo was one of the leaders of the Argentine fans who attended the World Cup and culminated in obtaining the third star for Argentina. He remembers that after the defeat against Saudi Arabia, people began to speak on the networks so that the Argentine fans would congregate behind one of the arches of each stadium where La Scaloneta was presented.
“We hit the drums, the breath was incredible, people couldn’t believe it, the players died in the match against Mexico and that’s where the lack of control began to build,” Cascardo recounted with obvious nostalgia.
Cachito was present in all the commitments of his team, but what he experienced in the last match against France, with the subsequent consecration of the albiceleste, he will never forget again in his life. “For the final we brought 80 kilos of cotillion, but they let us in half because they don’t understand folklore. I was associated with “Chiqui” Tapia -Claudio, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA)-, but it all came out of my pocket, “he said.
His arrival at Inter Miami
Cascardo is one of the leaders of the strongest fans of the South Florida team called Vice City, which is mostly made up of Argentine fans. Due to her experience acquired from her in the stands of her country, where she is a fan of Club Atlético All Boys, she is aware that there are still “abysmal” differences with the Argentine fans. “Here in the stands there is no violence, people watch the game having a beer or whiskey, it is more of a show than what is experienced in Argentina,” he explained in dialogue with infobae.
Although it is a reality that fights are not usually registered in the most important stadiums of the MLS, Cascardo referred to some clashes with supporters of Nashville SC. “When we were out of the playoffs, we ran into some Mexicans in the parking lot, but the police came and it kind of spread things out a bit,” he said.
In this sense, Cachito believes that Inter is a little bothered because its fans are mostly Latino, and they show great passion, they carry bass drums, trumpets, they throw a big “party” and therein lies a bit of the anger.
The difference between how football is experienced in MLS and in Argentina
Away from the Argentine stands and his beloved All Boys, “Cachito” recognized that soccer is lived in a very different way in the United States and in his country of origin, since in the North American giant “laws are followed.” “There is no way that what happens in Argentina can happen here, something can happen, a small clash, but here the laws are followed, here you hit someone, you have a complaint and the MLS suspends you for a year for nothing, and if you don’t go to jail,” he explained.
Cascardo believes that in Argentina they are raised violent and since childhood the barra bravas are seen as “superheroes”: “The bosses of the bar are seen as idols”, and justifies that “it is normal for there to be fights, we are destined to have it bad all my life.”
Although he did say that he had some confrontations with other Argentine soccer fans, he never saw anything that happened to the elderly: “I never saw a death, nothing more than stones, punches, it seems to me a lot to put my freedom at stake for a soccer team” .
The day she met David Beckham
The English star is one of the owners of Inter Miami and has repeatedly shown himself to be very close to the fans. And Cascardo had the privilege of meeting him in person. “The meeting with David happened several times, he wanted to meet us, he made an appointment with us one day at the club when the Fort Lauderdale field was just beginning to be built, he saw what we were doing and he was very happy,” he told this half.
On March 1, 2020, Inter Miami officially made its MLS debut. He was a visitor, against Los Angeles FC, and there he met Beckham again. “We were about 200 fans and he fell with a giant truck, entered the bar, very cool, took photos with everyone, a madman (laughs), he stayed singing with us and then he left quietly, ”he recalled.
Cascardo explained that it didn’t take him long to establish a good relationship with the Inter Miami players, mainly with his compatriots who went through the club: Nicolás Figal, Matías Pellegrini and Leandro González Pirezamong others.
These footballers arrived when the club did not have the facilities it has today, “they were half lost, we went sailing, for a walk, and I helped them not to forget their customs and the values with which they were born, such as barbecue, mate …”, he recalled between mischievous laughs.
Finally, He showed himself with real hopes that Lionel Messi landed at Inter Miami: “He did not renew with PSG, he did not close with Barcelona, and the rumor is very strong.” Cascardo believes that Messi will play in Miami no later than next year: “Leo bought apartments, he’s going to have shares in the club, his brother is working in the lower ranks, everything is lining up so that he ends his career here.”
Keep reading:
