Early morning at Liverpool’s training ground, Alexis Mac Allister carefully tilts a calabash gourd and taps loose a mound of yerba mate, the dried leaves that form Argentina‘s cherished tea. He packs the gourd about halfway, creating a little “mountain” of green tea leaves on one side.
From a thermos, he pours a trickle of hot water (just shy of boiling, nearly 90°C by his preference) into the void beside the mound, wetting the base of the herb. He pauses, allowing the yerba to bloom and expand. Only then does Mac Allister insert the bombilla, a metal straw with a filtered tip, and fill the gourd to the brim with steaming water.
In this moment, far from his native Buenos Aires, the aroma of mate rises like a homely perfume. It’s a ritual he performs with almost reverence. In fact, Mac Allister insists that “el proceso de preparación del mate es un arte.”
He smiles and hands the first sip to a nearby teammate. Back in his first season at Anfield, that taster was often Darwin Núñez, who accepted the gourd with curiosity. After a match-winning brace one weekend, Núñez even found himself getting a crash course in mate.
Mac Allister posted a celebratory photo captioned, “Teaching the scorer how to make some good mates,” the two South Americans grinning over the gourd. Liverpool’s social channels shared a mini masterclass video, much to supporters’ surprise and delight. In the clip, the 25-year-old demonstrates every step, from shaking out the dust to forming the mound and waiting patiently as the herb infuses.
Fans also noticed the bright package of Baldo yerba mate on his counter, a premium blend favored by superstars like Lionel Messi.
The mate circle – a brotherhood at Anfield
Since arriving at Liverpool in 2023, Mac Allister quickly established a mate circle in the dressing room. “Naturally, he has grown close to the Spanish speakers in the camp and those with a love for maté,” Liverpool’s site noted at the time.
Every day after training, the Argentine midfielder could be found sitting with his thermos and gourd, joined by teammates eager for a sip and some banter. “For us, it’s something to share,” Mac Allister explained. “You can have breakfast or do something, but when the maté is there, you have a connection with the other person. It’s like a routine for us.”
Colombian winger Luis Díaz was once a tougher convert (“We are trying to get Lucho into it but he doesn’t want to,” Mac Allister joked), though he’s now moved on to Bayern Munich. Núñez, who became one of Mac Allister’s closest mates in the circle, has since departed for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson, true to his roots, calls the drink chimarrão and often brings his own southern Brazilian traditions to Liverpool. Coach Claudio Taffarel occasionally joins the mate sessions, adding friendly banter about brewing technique; Mac Allister jokes in The Players’ Tribune that Taffarel is especially particular about how mate is made, always offering lively feedback.
Among supporters, the whole thing took on a life of its own. On Reddit and X, Liverpool fans joked that the club’s real secret weapon wasn’t gegenpressing but “mate plus Núñez goals.” One meme showed Mac Allister clutching his gourd in training with the caption: Forget the ball, pass the mate. The running joke was that he spent as much time with his thermos as with the football.
More than a drink, a tradition and identity
In a Liverpool FC interview, Mac Allister explained: “For us, it’s something to share… You can have breakfast or do something but when the maté is there, you have a connection with the other person. It’s like a routine for us.”
Across the world, mate has become an unofficial fuel of football. When Argentina’s national team flew to Qatar for the World Cup, they famously packed about 498 kilograms of yerba mate in their luggage. The detail went viral, with fans joking that the “real 12th man was mate.”
The significance of mate, though, runs deeper than its stimulants. As Argentina’s yerba mate institute put it, “When someone comes over, we tell them to drink it because it fosters togetherness.”
In Liverpool’s squad, the same principle still applies. Hungarian midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, who doesn’t speak Spanish, joined the circle anyway.
From the Pampas to the Premier League
The sight of Mac Allister roaming the training ground with a decorated gourd has endeared him to fans and teammates alike. Media outlets in Uruguay and Argentina marveled at how this Argentine world champion taught English teammates to brew Uruguay’s favorite yerba.
And on the pitch, after a flowing Liverpool move ended in a goal, it wasn’t unusual to see Mac Allister and Núñez mime sipping from an invisible gourd.
In a sport of global stars and high pressure, the humble mate has given players a grounding daily ritual. As Mac Allister and other Argentine footballers often describe: mate, barbecues, wine, and shared moments form the heart of their camaraderie, on and off the pitch.
Every time Alexis Mac Allister prepares a gourd of mate, from a quiet morning at home to a post-training circle in the dressing room, he’s brewing much more than a caffeinated tea. He’s brewing memories, friendship, and a taste of home, one sip at a time.
