“I like drinking it in the afternoon,” he said. “There are health benefits, but it’s a social thing, too. When you are with teammates in the training facility, you drink it, pass it around, and talk. It’s a nice part of our soccer culture.”

It is customary for one player to prepare the mate and then pass it around to share it with teammates. Negri has his jersey number on his cup, as well as his initials and those of his girlfriend.

“Some teammates from other countries are starting to try it,” Negri said. “Leo Campana, who is from Ecuador, didn’t used to drink it and now he likes it. The Americans have a harder time with it because they didn’t grow up with it, but they are trying because they want to adapt to the group.”

Inter Miami goalkeeper coach Sebastian Saja, a native of Argentina, said mate is as essential to an Argentine player as his cleats.

“For those of us from Argentina and Uruguay, mate is an indispensable part of our culture,” Saja said. “We can’t imagine a locker room without mate, or without a circle of people passing around a mate. From a very young age it’s something that is introduced to us by our parents, and in soccer it is a way to gather and share with your team. We need mate in the locker room at all times, before and after the training sessions and before games, too.”

Saja said he drank café con leche (coffee with milk) before school as a kid and in the afternoons would ask his father for a sip of his mate. He has three sons now, and the youngest, who is six years old, has started drinking mate.

“We grew up with it and we are seeing that it is starting to transcend Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, and players of other nationalities are drinking it,” Saja said. “I just have to be careful not to drink the very strong version after dinner because then it is hard for me to fall asleep. I did that once when I was a player, and I couldn’t fall asleep until 4 in the morning.”

A cup of yerba mate contains approximately 80 milligrams of caffeine, about the same as in a cup of brewed coffee. It also is an excellent source of polyphenol antioxidants, which helps shorten recovery rate after high intensity exercise.

“It is very low calorie, 12 to 15 calories in a cup, improves digestion, can reduce LDL, the bad cholesterol, and has vitamin A, C, E and zinc,” Lara said. “Some people put sweetener in it, but most athletes drink it without sweetener because it is healthier that way.”

To make mate, you fill the cup one-half to three-quarters with the yerba leaves. Cover the mouth of the mate with your hand. Turn it over and shake it to even out the leaf mixture, and keep the cup at a 45 degree angle.

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