South Florida’s Argentine community, the largest in the United States, has swelled with delight that the South American country’s most recognized man is now one of its own.
“Argentinians have an immense sense of pride for Argentina, despite the decades’ worth of political and economic turmoil,” said Gabriel Groisman, the former mayor of Bal Harbour, whose parents immigrated from Argentina in the late 1970s. “We spoke only Spanish at home. We had Argentinian-style barbecue in the backyard literally five times a week.”
When Argentina, led by Mr. Messi, won its first World Cup in 36 years last year, caravans decked out with the country’s blue-and-white flags celebrated in a Miami Beach neighborhood sometimes called Little Buenos Aires. Last week, Mr. Messi dined at Café Prima Pasta, an Argentine-owned neighborhood restaurant where the most expensive dish, a steak, goes for $36.95. Fans showed up at the back door for autographs and selfies.
Argentina’s national soccer federation plans to build a $10 million training facility in North Bay Village, between Miami and Miami Beach. Mr. Messi reportedly owns a multimillion-dollar condo in an ultraluxe tower whose selling points include a car elevator in nearby Sunny Isles Beach.
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, a steakhouse that is a shrine to Mr. Messi and Diego Maradona, who led Argentina to its 1986 world championship.
“Messi was surely seeking safety, tranquillity — and the beach,” said Mr. Delfino, who flew to Qatar in December for the World Cup final. “And people who are warm. Argentines like to go get a coffee, say hello to people.”
“We breathe our culture here: We know where to buy dulce de leche, yerba mate, facturas,” or Argentine pastries, said Maximiliano Alvarez, who commissioned a Messi mural in 2018 for his restaurant, Fiorito, in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood. Mr. Messi’s arrival has already drawn more patrons.
“For Messi to come here himself one day,” he said, “that is the dream.”
