Argentine champion to Miami landlord: World Cup queries x5 | OneFootball

Matías Ibáñez returned to Bahía Blanca in 2025 to fulfill his promise of retiring at Olimpo, the club that gave him the chance to make his debut in the First Division. Many years had passed since his breakthrough in the top tier of Argentine football, when in 2011, against Quilmes, he came off the bench after Laureano Tombolini got injured. In a critical situation, the goalkeeper made a string of saves that rescued his team and hurt River, which would end up being relegated to the Nacional B after the memorable Promotion playoff against Belgrano.

The turning point in Ibáñez’s career came after winning the title with Lanús in 2016. From then on, he began to feel that retirement “was near”, that insurmountable barrier that puts an expiration date on a professional footballer’s career.

The key was keeping his mind occupied, training himself, and anticipating what was coming. “You have to prepare yourself and know that football comes to an end. I spoke with psychologists and came to the conclusion that the adrenaline I felt before matches, I’m not going to find anywhere else. It’s a stage that ends,” the former goalkeeper told LA NACION, now the owner of a travel agency in Bahía Blanca.

“I’ve been connected to tourism for ten years. While I was playing football, I rented out apartments in the United States. Based on the knowledge I acquired, I opened my travel agency,” explained Ibáñez, who also wore the jerseys of San Lorenzo, Racing, and Spain’s Eibar, among other teams. Over a long journey through professional football, he made sure to make the most of his time and completed courses in coaching, sports advising, goalkeeper training, scouting, coaching, and sports commentary.

By drawing on this knowledge, Ibáñez understood that staying in the sports world made no sense and decided to definitively cut ties with football. “Today there are a lot of positions filled by former players, but I feel you have to train for them. Most want to become coaches, but there isn’t room for everyone. Being a coach is worse than being a player. Nowadays you coach five matches, get fired, and then spend a year staring at the walls of your house until someone calls you again. I didn’t want to live with that uncertainty. These days I go grocery shopping around Bahía and when people see me they say: ‘How’s it going, retiree?’ And I laugh because what ended was the profession, not life. I’m young, I have two daughters — Victoria and Catalina — and I have to show them that life goes on, and that working is the best example I can give them,” he said.

His venture in the United States and the big question: how much does it cost to go to the World Cup?

Between training sessions, training camps, matches, and trips around the continent to play in the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, Matías Ibáñez used his time to read and learn about different tourist destinations around the world. Passionate about training and about building connections between people to grow his customer base, he invested a large part of his salary to acquire properties — together with partners — and set up a daily and weekly rental service in Miami.

“I’ve been a salesman all my life. I sell happiness. People who buy a vacation package are looking for that,” exclaimed Ibáñez, who studied business administration and English to broaden his sales reach.

Ibáñez started from scratch, allocated funds to buy the properties and also to strengthen the marketing behind his two business Instagram accounts, which reached 400,000 followers. His image as a businessman overtook that of the footballer, and celebrities such as Susana Giménez keep up with the offers posted on his social media.

“Over the years I built trust with the people who traveled and rented. Since I’m a public figure, people trust me. Some know me, others have no idea who I am, but they recommend me. Today I manage around 100 apartments in Miami and work with other people there who handle the check-in and other things I can’t do from a distance,” he said about this well-known city that will be heavily visited during the next World Cup.

With the World Cup just around the corner, inquiries have increased fivefold. “People are going crazy. There are tons of inquiries. At the agency we’ve started putting together packages with internal transfers,” he explained about staying in one of the countries that will host the most matches compared with Mexico and Canada, the other two host nations.

“Apartments rent for 150 dollars a day. There are also other options where the stay costs 2,500. The range of offers is very broad,” he said about the rates being handled for now. For those looking for a more comprehensive plan, he added: “The packages are close to 10,000 dollars and include tickets for the first three group-stage matches.”

Among the different options, Ibáñez said that many tourists will base themselves in Miami to go see the matches. However, he noted that the distances make the trip more expensive, and that forces agencies to look for budget-friendly alternatives, such as offering a motorhome to travel and sleep in the same vehicle, thereby saving the return trip from the stadium.

The critical situation in Bahía Blanca after the floods

In early March 2025, an unprecedented storm flooded and destroyed a large part of Bahía Blanca. That same month, the former player had everything ready to open the agency, but the severe weather flooded the premises and delayed its opening.

“The city is the same as it was after the flood. The municipality has done practically nothing. The bridges are still closed. If anything has changed, it’s because of the solidarity of people from all over the country who made donations,” Ibáñez said, ten months after the event that left people dead and many families helpless.

According to his account, the only progress was paving some streets before the elections. “They said they were going to modify the Maldonado canal, but I pass through the area quite often and I don’t see anyone working,” he said about this place located 20 blocks from the city center.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.