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England defender caught up in mate drinking habit

Dier could very well blend into the River Plate football scene, being such a huge fan of mate and asado

Qatar 2022 is beginning to make headlines for issues not strictly related to football. Among them was England defender Eric Dier (@ericdier15 on Instagram) showing his mate and thermus that made him look more like a player of either Uruguay or Argentina.

He has also been reported to be very good at priming the South American typical beverage. Comments about his defending skills were arguably less abundant. Dier admitted he was “addicted” to mate, of which he grew very fond while playing club football in Portugal, where he was lured into it by “some of my Argentine teammates.”

 

 

 

 

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Una publicación compartida por England football team (@england)

“I've been drinking it for a long time,” Dier went on. “Happy Birthday my friend! Thanks for teaching me everything I know about mate and asado,” he once wrote in an Instagram message in perfect Spanish aimed at one of his teammates. (“Feliz cumpleaños amigo! Gracias por enseñarme todo lo que sé sobre mate y asado”)

Ironically, one of the most popular brands of yerba mate in Argentina has a Polish background. The founder of La Cacheura, the company producing the Amanda brand, the one most sold outside Argentina and one of the top five on the domestic market, settled in the province of Misiones early in the 20th Century after arriving as a Polish immigrant.

“We are the oldest company in activity in the province of Misiones, with more than 90 years of experience in the production of yerba mate and rice”, the firm defines itself in its social networks.

La Cachuera was founded in 1923 by Juan Szychowski (aka Pancho), the son of Julian and Carolina, who had arrived in Buenos Aires around 1900 from the Polish city of Borszcow. In 2021 over 12,000 tons of Amanda yerba mate were sold abroad.

And Wednesday Argentina will take on Poland in a Group C match that may result in one of them being eliminated or in both of them moving on. Whoever win, advance, but in case of a tie, the outcome of the clash between Mexico and Saudi Arabia will prove crucial.

“It is an addiction, it is an addiction,” said Dier about yerba mate. Now playing for Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspurs, Dier shares his days with Argentina's Giovani Lo Celso (who missed the World Cup due to injury), Juan Foyth, and Erik Lamela. While in Portugal, he met Emiliano Insúa, Valentín Viola, Marcos Rojo, and Fabián Rinaudo. The thing is Dier never mentioned who exactly mentored him in the gaucho habits.

“The preparation is not easy. Carrying it back and forth is a complicated affair, but it's worth it. It's like a strong green tea. I think that's the best way to describe it. It has a very district taste. And it's strong,” Dier explained in an English FA video in which he also admitted mate shadowed him everywhere and noted that he was trying to get Harry Kane to join him in the practice.

“I tried some, but it's just not for me,” said Kane. “Some things are not for certain people. I'm a coffee man, not a mate man. It's too messy and brewing it takes too long,” he reckoned.

Dier, who made his starting debut at Sporting Lisbon in 2012, played 388 games as a professional, scoring 16 goals. However, he is also remembered for an incident in February of 2020, when he jumped onto the stands and came to blows with a fan, for which he was suspended for four matches and fined € 44,000.

(Source: Crónica)