The nickname. The backstory. That flowing mop of sandy hair, with a rangy playing style to match. The upbringing in Key Biscayne, a small barrier-island village jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean’s warm waters, where the M in MAST Academy, his high school alma mater, stands for ‘Maritime’ and the mascot is a mako shark. The rugged rush-hour car commute he and his family undertook when he joined the Development Academy program at Weston FC, way out in the northwestern suburbs. Even his accent, a good example of the emerging “Miami dialect” documented by linguists over the past few decades.
Benjamin Cremaschi is about as Miami as it gets.
That’s probably why he fits so well as the face of Inter Miami’s new third kits, the turquoise-and-orange numbers just rolled out as part of the MLS Archive Collection that capture the region’s retro aesthetic so well, one could almost forget the club didn’t actually exist back in the 1980s “Miami Vice” heyday.
Argentine roots
What’s both paradoxical and essential to Cremaschi’s deep local roots is he’s a second-generation Argentine-American, born and raised in South Florida yet a son of proud expatriates from Mendoza, who instilled in their four children a deep love of and connection to their homeland as they wrote their own new story in the United States.
Benja’s father Pablo wore Argentina's colors in a different sport. He starred as a centre for Los Pumas, the country’s national rugby team, on several occasions in the 1990s before emigrating to Florida for work, where he co-founded a youth program, Key Biscayne Rugby Rats, that continues to this day. The elder Cremaschi said in an interview last summer “we clearly have an Argentine heart” and joked that it seemed mom and dad were more overwhelmed than Benja himself when “a dream came true” and Lionel Messi became his teammate.
The whole family are dual-nationals, and Benja was called up to Argentina’s Under-20 side for a training camp before the 2023 Conmebol U-20 Championship tournament. Yet Pablo’s emotions bubbled right to the surface when he learned his middle son had been named to the US men’s Olympic soccer team earlier this month, Benja telling his club’s website that “my dad teared up a bit” when he delivered the good news.
“My dad represented Argentina in the rugby side,” the 19-year-old told reporters in a media availability from the US camp in Bordeaux, France this week. “I'm proud to be here, I'm happy to be here; I think he's even prouder that I'm here, and he obviously supports me in everything that I do. So I think it's something big for me, something big for him, too.”
Paris awaits
IMCF’s homegrown midfielder is wearing his town, club and family on his sleeve as he ascends to one of the biggest stages in world sport this month as the youngest member of Marko Mitrović’s squad. When announcing his roster, Mitrović called Cremaschi a "high-potential player" who is "ready to compete and represent the US at the Olympics."
“It's a really, really proud moment, not just for me and my family but for the Inter Miami fans. I'm super happy that I could be here representing the USA and also representing Inter Miami,” said Benja, noting he and Dominican Republic international Edison Azcona – who recently transferred to USL Championship side Las Vegas Lights FC – are the first IMCF academy products to reach the Olympic level.
“Hopefully the kids could look at where I'm at,” he added of younger Miamians aspiring to follow his path. “They could dream of being here, and hopefully many others could have this opportunity as well.”
For well over a century, transplants from around the world, particularly Latin America, have made the region home, creating a vibrant cultural stew that’s reflected in the crowds at Chase Stadium, IMCF’s supporter scene, ownership group and even the game model of the club’s academy teams and the players they produce. It’s the inspiration behind the ‘Freedom to Dream’ tagline that adorns IMCF’s kits and gave the name to the Herons’ massive stadium project, currently under construction a long goal kick east of Miami International Airport.
Cremaschi embodies all that.
“It's a dream to be in the position I’m in, to be able to compete in the Olympics at my age, and to represent this country, the United States, which gave me a lot,” he said in Spanish. “As a country, it gave me everything.”
Ready to shine
The men’s Olympic soccer tournament is technically a youth event, restricted to U-23 players except for three overage roster spots per team. Cremaschi – who already earned his senior international debut with the USMNT in a September 2023 friendly vs. Oman – is so young that he’ll remain age-eligible for the 2028 Summer Games as well.
Given that Olympic rosters are infamously tight, with just 16 slots for field players, two for goalkeepers and four alternates who can only be deployed in cases of injury, that represents a massive compliment to the teenager – both in terms of his future potential and his ability to contribute right away. That was surely a key factor in his commitment to the United States, as was a frank conversation with Argentina U-20s and Olympic coach Javier Mascherano earlier this year.
“We've had multiple conversations with almost everyone close to me and we thought this was the best choice,” Cremaschi said of his international allegiance this week. “USA is giving me an opportunity that not many kids my age get. The fact that I'm here and that I could represent this country means a lot, and it's obviously something that I couldn't refuse.
“The guys are great, the staff is great, everyone around this organization for now has been great to me. So I'm happy to represent them and this country.”
Dreaming big
Like so many of his club teammates, Cremaschi has felt ‘the Messi Effect’ profoundly. He’s made noticeable strides in his individual development under the influence of the Argentine icon and his friends and former FC Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suárez, while also gaining an elevated profile via the bright global spotlight they’ve drawn to the Herons.
The Olympics stand to dial up the wattage that much further. As much joy and wisdom as he’s gained from his IMCF experience, Cremaschi carries a long-term goal of trying his hand in Europe, and strong performances this summer could speed him along that path ahead of schedule.
Cremaschi said this week that Mitrović sees him primarily in a box-to-box role as a No. 8, and he faces a keen battle to earn minutes in the US central midfield. But his versatile toolkit and relentless engine seem likely to come in handy as the young Yanks plot a course to the knockout rounds out of Group A, starting with the profound challenge of an opening-day clash vs. host nation France in Marseille on Wednesday, followed by clashes with New Zealand and Guinea three and six days later, respectively.
Across four Olympic trips in the modern era, the US men have only advanced out of group play once: At Sydney 2000, when departed Portland Timbers legend Clive Charles led the squad to a fourth-place finish. A deep run like that is the main goal for this year’s team.
“We've been preparing for this moment. We've had this mindset set from a while ago,” said Cremaschi. “We know we need to do our best in these three games and focus on the little things that matter a lot at the end of the day, and the pressure is the same. We know what we have to do and hopefully we can go out there and perform in the best way and go to the next phase.”
