United by soccer: South Florida fans come together for World Cup draw

Soccer fans all over South Florida had Dec. 5 marked on their calendars for a long time. Whether they followed the draw at home, at the office or at a public watch party, they were dialed in!

They know the importance of every milestone moment during the World Cup process, especially the final draw, said Andres Baez, director of media for the FIFA Miami Host Committee, which hosted a watch party in Doral.

“We want to make sure that the community has the opportunity to live this,” Baez said for those who couldn’t make it to D.C. for the draw.

Baez called South Florida a “multicultural mix pot,” which makes it especially important that people have a place to gather and celebrate.

“We want to make sure that all the soccer fans have a place where they can enjoy the party together,” Baez said.

Marcus Castro’s 2-year-old son played with a large inflatable soccer ball as the pair wore matching Brazil soccer jerseys, a nod to Castro’s home country.

Castro, 39, who lives in Doral, chose to watch the draw at the Doral Amphitheater so he could celebrate with people from the neighborhood.

“We are Brazilian, we like to show our support and love for our country,” Castro said.

He watched Brazil play in 2014 when his country hosted the World Cup, which he described as amazing and is now looking forward to the chance to see another match in the United States.

Victoria Schanz, 20, is from Venezuela, and although her home team didn’t qualify for the World Cup, she still showed pride for her father’s home country of Germany by wearing its jersey and is hoping to see the Germans win as they did in 2014.

She attended the event with her boyfriend, Mauricio De Sousa, 20, who told her about the watch party — something she thought would be a “really fun way to watch.”

De Sousa said attending a watch party is especially exciting for them because they didn’t have those kinds of experiences while living in Venezuela.

“I loved soccer since I was a kid,” De Sousa said. He added that he’s excited to see the sport grow in popularity among younger Venezuelans, who come from a country where baseball has historically dominated.

Attendees at the Doral watch party came from all over and represented a variety of teams, but the crowd featured a particularly strong showing of fans in Colombia jerseys.

For Paula Quintero, 30, the atmosphere sparked a deep sense of pride.

Quintero grew up playing soccer and went on to compete professionally for Independiente Santa Fe in Bogotá.

She’s excited about the group that Colombia was placed in. The only drawback, she noted, is sharing a group with Portugal, led by Cristiano Ronaldo — though that challenge hardly dampens her optimism.

“I believe in our country and our team,” Quintero said. “It feels amazing to be surrounded by so many Colombians.”

Sitting a few seats behind were siblings Marie and Ryan Vizuete, who were cheering for Ecuador.

“Not too happy about Germany, but the other two teams it seems we can beat them,” Marie, 26, said, referring to Curaçao and Ivory Coast.

Ryan comically sat beside his sister wearing a Germany jersey, explaining that he gave his Ecuador jerseys to his mom and sister to wear — though he says he’s 100% rooting for Ecuador.

The Kendall siblings are disappointed with Germany’s placement in Ecuador’s group but still believe the team can come out on top.

At Fritz and Franz Bierhaus in Coral Gables, the crowd was buzzing, waitresses carried heavy plates of sausage and sauerkraut and owner Harald Neuweg bounced from table to table. Soccer fans dressed in their favorite colors filled every corner of the bar, representing Colombia, Brazil, Switzerland, Spain, Mexico and Germany.

England fans Josh Kerslake and Ali Bunce didn’t want their home country’s team to play in Miami.

“We’re scared of English people playing in hot weather,” Kerslake said.

The two had mixed feelings about the draw, though they’re willing to travel to wherever England ends up playing. Bunce wasn’t happy with the large number of teams (48) participating, which he thinks makes the groups too diluted and uninteresting.

“There’s too many teams,” Bunce said. “Apart from France’s group, there aren’t many big clashes.” Kerslake noted England might have a hard time going against Croatia and Ghana, though “we should have enough” to make it to the next round.

Dave Green, an Australian sitting at the same table, gave this hot take: “England will crash out in the groups stage. The coach will get fired, and there will be a national inquiry.” But how will Australia do? Just OK, Green said. “Our golden age is long gone,” he said. “We’ll be lucky to get out the groups.”

Neuweg said next year’s World Cup is exciting for several reasons, especially considering his native Austria is participating for the first time in 28 years. Soccer’s popularity has grown exponentially since Fritz and Franz opened more than two decades ago.

“We were the only ones showing soccer in South Florida and it has grown incredibly,” Neuweg said. “And with Lionel Messi coming to Inter Miami and Inter Miami coming here, it has grown 100 fold. I think this World Cup will put American soccer to another level.”

Fritz and Franz is planning to take over the plaza with an outdoor big screen to show games and an international food court for fans to enjoy. Besides the food and drink, Neuweg said he’s looking forward to fantastic soccer all day every day.

“I think there’s a possibility you can miss a really good game in the afternoon,” he said.