MLS
The story of ‘Vice City 1896′, the official Inter Miami fan group
One of the leading members spoke to AS, where he detailed the history of the fan group that is ready to welcome Lionel Messi.
Inter Miami has become the focus of attention for a lot of the world of soccer, especially in the United States. The reason is quite simple: in a few days, Lionel Messi will be presented as a new player for the team based in Fort Lauderdale.
AS USA spoke to ‘Cachito’, who took the passion of Argentinian football to Miami with the formation of ‘Vice City 1896′, a fan group that has grown into one of the most popular in the whole of MLS.
In the interview, ‘Cachito’ revealed the process behind how the group came about five years ago, as well as speaking about the gradual process of gaining members and fans of Inter Miami.
“We started this five years ago”, he explained, “some people who were already fans came and joined, I wouldn’t get into the topic of ‘leaders’, because there are six or seven who have been here from the start and with a little help from everyone we could get it together. The thing is that everyone talks about [me being] a leader, but it’s how I am: I grew up in the stands of a football stadium where you turn around and don’t look at the game, I turn around to look at the fans and tell them what to sing. Maybe that’s why people understand it in that way.”
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David Beckham met the fan group five years ago
The Argentine fan also told AS USA about the first steps in meeting David Beckham in order to make Vice City 1896 an official fan group, something which the owner helped with to give them a presence at every home game.
“We started five years ago when one of the guys said to me ‘David Beckham’s team is coming [to Miami] and it’s going to be called Inter Miami, why don’t we make a fan group?’ And another said to to me: ‘you know more about the fan culture’, as I had been to different World Cups. So we bought drums and cymbals and started our own songs, we met up in bars and in a second division stadium here in Miami and there were just 15 of us at the beginning. Little by little it got crazier. And then, when we were a little more established, David Beckham wanted to meet us and he waited for us in the club because we were a little more well-known by then. I was happy with what we were doing and really happy that the club gave us the seal of approval as a certified fan group; they told us to keep going ‘as we were doing things well’.”
Inter Miami understood the culture of Latin American soccer fans
The topic shifted to the plan of action for the group before and after games at the Inter Miami stadium, with Jorge saying that “Inter Miami understood a little about Latin American folklore” as they helped them to become official.
“They came to look for us, Jorge Mas is a great guy. We asked to be able to use the space behind the stadium for our pre-match support where we eat together, sing and families and kids can come and play football. They gave us the space and little by little it became a thing to have a pre-match gathering; then we go into the ground and keep supporting the team after the game. They understood the idea, they liked it and they are with us all the way. As long as we do things properly and there is no violence and everything goes in the right direction, they understood that and now we are the biggest fan group in MLS.”
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Unconditional support despite Miami’s poor results
Finally, the head of the group assured that the bad results do not affect the levels of support from the people in the stands, and they trust that the turnaround is on its way. With the arrival of Messi, the fans will be there unconditionally for their team.
“The only thing missing from Miami in order to be perfect was a football team. We’ve failed ever since we started but we get used to it, we keep going and we enjoy ourselves, we also have fun. You have to keep in mind that here, the people work a lot: this is the USA. They then wait 3-4 hours to get into the stadium and enjoy themselves. The result is secondary. Of course we want to be a champion, qualify for the playoffs and compete, but if that doesn’t happen then we’ll keep on coming back, but the result is secondary.”
