MLS

Lionel Messi’s march toward MLS dominance continued with Inter Miami’s win over Orlando Wednesday (Aug. 2), with the Argentine star scoring two goals for a total of 812 over his career to date.

And every time Messi scores, fans hear the strains of “Muchachos, ahora nos volvimos a ilusionar” (which translates loosely to: “Boys, Now We’re Full of Excitement Again.”) The song, by ska/fusion Argentine big band La Mosca, was already a fan favorite in Argentina pre-World Cup. But it became a global hit during the World Cup last year after Messi said in an interview that it was his favorite World Cup song. Now, with the arrival of Messi to Inter Miami in July, it’s again capturing international attention.

Since last month, “Muchachos” has been the theme of a national Lay’s campaign titled “Goats for Messi”. In the hilarious spot, a goat farmer welcomes Messi to Inter Miami as the “Greatest of All Time,” or “G.O.A.T.” Then, the farmer’s goats (807 of them, representing the 807 goals Messi had scored up to that point), are shepherded to create an image of Messi’s face on the grass. The song is also being used in Inter’s own campaign as well as in Adidas’ new campaign for Messi-branded apparel. Further, an updated version of Messi 10, the Messi-inspired Cirque du Soleil spectacle, will feature a scene in which the soccer star lifts his World Cup trophy to the tune of “Muchachos.”

“What’s happened with ‘Muchachos’ was global. But post-World Cup, Messi signed with Inter and thank God people continue to pair the song with Messi,” says La Mosca’s longtime manager, Santiago Ruiz. “What I’ve done is make big deals with well-known brands to keep the song alive. Fortunately, ‘Muchachos’ still goes along with Messi, and luckily brands continue associating the song with him.”

Ruiz, who has managed the band via his own Nacho Producciones since the launch of its career over two decades ago, was the first to see a glimmer of possibility in the track.

Back in 2021, while watching the Argentine national team play Copa América on TV, he saw a group of fans singing to the tune of “Muchachos” but with different lyrics.

The original La Mosca song, a kind of ska/tango released in 2010, was titled “Muchachos, esta noche me emborracho” (“Boys, Tonight I’ll Get Drunk”), and it dealt with lost love. A hit in Argentina, it had been adopted by fans as a soccer anthem, but with new lyrics penned by a fan that alluded specifically to the Argentine soccer team and national pride: “In Argentina I was born/Land of Diego and Lionel/Of the boys from Malvines/ who I’ll never forget,” the opening line goes. “I can’t explain/Because you’ll never understand/The finals we lost/How many years I cried.”

Ruiz was struck by the lyrics, but also by fans’ reaction — as the song was sung organically in stadiums each time the team played.

“I thought, we need to find the person who wrote the lyrics, show it to the band and convince them to re-record the song,” he says. It was an unorthodox proposal, but La Mosca indeed re-recorded the new “Muchachos” as if it were a brand new song, with a new title, and adding the fan who wrote the new lyrics — Fernando Romero — as a co-writer alongside original writers and La Mosca members Guillermo Novelis (the band’s lead singer) and Sergio Cairat.

“Muchachos” was quickly adopted by team Argentina and became a local smash. But once Argentina began winning matches in the World Cup, its popularity really skyrocketed — all the way to the 2022 final in Qatar, where Messi held up the trophy as the song played.

“It was epic,” laughs Ruiz. “Truly the cherry on the cake.”

Argentina’s World Cup win gave “Muchachos” another hefty lift. The song soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart in December 2022. That same month, it also entered Billboard’s Global Excl. U.S. chart at No. 132 — a first for La Mosca on the tally — as well as the Latin Digital Songs chart at No. 9.

Released as a World Cup single for La Mosca under their new recording deal with Sony Music, “Muchachos” was supposed to be fleeting. The group already had a new album featuring new versions of their greatest hits ready for release. But the success of “Muchachos” pushed back the release date of the album to this fall. A first album single is slated to drop Aug. 18, but in the meantime, “Muchachos” just keeps on playing.

In addition to many local deals in Argentina, Ruiz has recently closed international campaigns for the song, including Lay’s in the United States and Adidas globally — the latter of which will run for six months.

At a more local level, La Mosca recorded a new version of the song for the Messi presentation with Inter last month in Miami — specifically for that moment — and distributed pamphlets with the lyrics so fans could sing along.

Now, says Ruiz, the idea is to use the new exposure to promote an upcoming La Mosca tour.

“To come to the U.S. hand in hand with this icon [Messi] has lengthened and magnified the song and puts us again on the map,” he says. “I’ve managed La Mosca for over 25 years. I got them their first record deal. This song has made us No. 1 on the charts, it’s raised our prestige, it’s opened the doors to new festivals and places we hadn’t been to in years. We have nothing but gratitude because we’ve been able to take our Argentine flag around the world.”