The party had been raging for hours by the time the bagpipes began to sound and 8,000 Scots started their march through the streets of Little Havana. Ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup match at Miami Stadium against Brazil, Scotland’s supporters — the Tartan Army — made their presence known at Loan Depot Park Monday night.
The Miami Marlins took on the Texas Rangers, but the Scottish fans were more focused on the party than the baseball.
“It's just what we do. We just picked a game. Got nothing to do when the football's not on, so we go to baseball. Still don’t understand [baseball], but we’ll be going,” said Girvan Easton, of Fife, Scotland.
Easton was attending his second ever baseball game. He was a part of the army’s visit to Fenway Park to see the Red Sox on June 14 that culminated with a romp through Boston that drew international attention and viral social media moments — in particular reports that bars in the city had ran out of beer. Easton was confident that the Scots would repeat that performance in Miami.
“ Boston was off the chain, but we drank all the drink. We've still got plenty of beer here, but once we run out of beer, we maybe see what happens,” Easton said.
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The crowd in Miami was larger than the roughly 5,000 Scots at Fenway, and every bit as loud as they walked more than a mile from Calle Ocho to the ballpark. Frequent chants of “No Scotland, No Party” and “Super John McGinn”, a song that lionizes the team's star midfielder, broke out.
“ When I booked the tickets for the baseball I said, ‘Ah, it'll be maybe a thousand or couple hundred fans.’ But this? I've never seen anything like it. There are so many Scotland fans in Miami together. It's class, it makes me proud to be Scottish,” said Gary Cennerazzo from Edinburgh.
The parade drew plenty of spectators, locals who looked on from street corners and balconies to take in the crowd.
“ It is so amazing, the culture, the vibe. They're literally bringing so much fun. World peace, I feel, is inevitable with the Tartan Army in Miami,” said onlooker Sandra Sardinas. “And they’re on Calle Ocho too, with all the roosters!”
At one point, the crowd saw two onlookers wearing Argentina jerseys and began to serenade them with a song thanking them for Diego Maradona, the Argentine who controversially helped eliminate Scotland's hated rival England from the 1986 World Cup.
Once the fans reached the stadium, Marlins fans with güiras met the lively Scots — who began chanting in rhythm to the traditional Caribbean percussion instrument. It's the kind of cultural exchange only possible in a city like Miami, at an event like the World Cup.
Outside LoanDepot park, the mass of Scottish fans created another viral moment when they sang and danced along to Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, the 1970's disco track that has become the Tartan Army's anthem.
With feels like temperatures at 100 degrees, fans were relieved to enter Loan Depot Park with its roof closed and air conditioning on full blast.
Another Scottish parade takes place on Miami Beach Tuesday at 2 p.m. The fans celebrating Scotland’s return to the World Cup for the first time in almost three decades are making the most of it.
“ 28 years since we were [at the World Cup]. This is what we bring everywhere we come. We're missed. We're missed when we're not here,” said Easton.
Scotland plays Brazil at Miami Stadium on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and after one win and one loss in Group C, the team has a chance to qualify to the elimination rounds for the first time in its history.
Although they have grabbed less headlines, Brazil's traveling supporters' group — along with members of South Florida's large diaspora — took over a stretch of Miami Beach on Sunday with a colorful display of the team's famous yellow and green and unmistakable Brazilian drumbeats.
The two nations' soccer history has some curious connections. The teams were also drawn agains each other at the 1998 World Cup, in Scotland's most recent appearance at the tournament, while it was Scotsman Charles Miller who originally brought the sport to Brazil in 1894 — setting in place a national obsession that brought a record five World Cup wins for the Brazilian team.
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