Then, pour hot (but not boiling) water from your thermos over the leaves. Between 75 degrees to 85 degrees is ideal. Finally, you drink it with a filtered straw so you consume only the liquid, not the leaves or stems, and pass it around.

“It has so many benefits,” Saja said. “It is low calorie and helps curtail your hunger and it’s a stimulant, like coffee, so it keeps you alert.”

But the main reason players and coaches drink it, Saja said, is because it strengthens the team bond.

“When we’re on the bus, when we’re on the road, everywhere we go, we take our mate with us,” he said. “When you pass by a player or coach who has made mate, you ask if you can have some. People unfamiliar with our culture are taken aback by the idea of sharing a bombilla or sharing a cup of mate, but for us that is natural.

“It’s very rare to see a group of teammates drinking five or six different mates. Normally, one person prepares it and passes it around to the others. It is about sharing moments. When a new player comes to the team, you offer him a mate as an ice breaker, and that helps him integrate quicker to the group, at least players from South America who are familiar with the custom.”

Saja said he recently saw Inter Miami midfielder Julian Gressel, a German American who joined the team this year, drinking a mate.

Decorating the cups has also become more and more elaborate. Saja’s cup has the names of his three sons and his initials. His son has one with his name and the logos of the Argentine national team, Inter Miami and Racing, his favorite Argentine club.

Asked if he has a favorite brand of mate, Saja sheepishly admitted he prefers a Uruguayan brand called Canarias. “I will get in trouble with my Argentine compatriots for saying that, but the truth is a lot of players prefer that brand, too,” he said. “There is a yellow package and a green. The yellow is stronger, the green is mild. I like the yellow. It’s like a strong black coffee. Some people drink coffee. Some drink energy drinks. We drink mate.”

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