Argentine champion, ex-Colón keeper now runs 100 Miami properties | 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 First Division debut. 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’s injury. In a do-or-die situation, the goalkeeper made a series of saves that rescued his team and hurt River, which would eventually be relegated to the Nacional B after the memorable playoff against Belgrano.

The turning point in Ibáñez’s career came after winning the title with Lanús in 2016. From that moment 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 to keep his mind occupied, to train, to anticipate what was coming. “You have to prepare yourself and understand that football comes to an end. I spoke with psychologists and came to the conclusion that I’m not going to find the adrenaline I felt before matches anywhere else. It’s a stage of life that ends,” the former goalkeeper told LA NACION. He is 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 gained, 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 the most of his time and completed courses as a head coach, sports advisor, goalkeeper coach, scouting, coaching, and sports commentator.

After absorbing all this knowledge, Ibáñez understood that staying in the sports world made no sense and decided to cut ties with football for good. “Today there are lots of positions occupied by former players, but I feel you need proper training. Most want to become head coaches, but there isn’t room for everyone. Being a coach is worse than being a player. These days you coach for five matches, get fired, and then spend a year staring at the wall in 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 is 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 across 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 with people to expand his client base, he invested a large part of his salary in buying properties — together with partners — and setting 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, allocating funds to buy the properties and also to strengthen the marketing strategy that helped his two business Instagram accounts reach 400,000 followers. His image as a businessman overtook that of the footballer, and celebrities like 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 from me. Since I’m a public figure, people trust me. Some know me, others have no idea who I am, but they still recommend me. These days 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 afar,” 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 quintupled. “People are going crazy. There are tons of inquiries. At the agency we’ve started putting together packages with domestic transfers,” he explained about staying in one of the countries that will host the most matches, compared to Mexico and Canada, the other two host nations.

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

Among the different options, Ibáñez said many tourists will use Miami as a base to go watch the matches. However, he pointed out that distances make the trip more expensive, and that forces agencies to look for budget-friendly alternatives, such as offering a motor home to travel and sleep in the same vehicle, in order to save on the return trip from the stadium.

Bahía Blanca’s critical situation after the floods

At the beginning of March 2025, an unprecedented storm flooded and destroyed much 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 right after the flood. The municipal government has done practically nothing. The bridges are still closed. If anything has changed, it’s thanks to the solidarity of people across the country who made donations,” Ibáñez said, ten months after the event that left people dead and many families destitute.

According to his account, the only progress was paving some streets before the elections. “They talked about modifying the Maldonado canal, but I pass through that area quite often and I don’t see anyone working,” he said about the site, which is 20 blocks from the city center.

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