From playing local soccer in the Miami area as a kid to playing with Lionel Messi as a professional, it's been a remarkable rise for Benjamin Cremaschi at Inter Miami CF.
The 18-year-old rising star joined the latest episode of Offside with Taylor Twellman to discuss his ascent to Miami's first team. The journey started when he decided to pursue soccer over rugby, the sport where his father was a standout player.
"I've said it before, I think if I lived in Argentina, if I was born in Argentina, I think I would've played rugby, not soccer," Cremaschi told Twellman.
"...I did play rugby here when I was little, but it got to a point where I had to choose, and I thought I had more of a future in soccer, in this sport, and that's the route that I went."
Given Cremaschi's eventual path, it's clear he made the right choice.
He now finds himself as one of the most highly touted young players in MLS and is playing alongside some of the game's all-time greats, including the GOAT himself: Messi.
"It's very interesting to them, to me, to my whole family," Cremaschi said. "Also playing with Messi, it's even crazier. I think my family's happy, and they're happy that I went that route."
Cremaschi also recounted his experience as part of the Apple Player Program, where he participated in a Q&A with aspring young players.
"I think we had a conversation with my dad after it happened," Cremaschi recalled. "And he was saying how these families, these parents with their kids sitting there and asking me questions, he said, 'They are people just like us. We could have been there. The parents are like me, the kids are like you, and now, it's just crazy enough that you're the one sitting down answering the questions and not asking them.”
