The power of potreros
Young Argentines turn to informal soccer tournaments for extra cash
Migueles says he can earn around 500,000 pesos (about $350) between his job and soccer "in a good month, winning matches".
Such matches have recently surged in popularity in impoverished neighborhoods across Argentina, as formal employment has slumped. Factories have closed and public spending has been slashed in recent years.
Migueles, 26, delivers bottled water alongside his uncle from a dilapidated truck, a precarious job with a fluctuating income. Over half of Argentines under the age of 30 are employed in the informal economy, according to 2025 data from state statistics agency INDEC.
There are no Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays for Migueles.
Whenever there's a match, he laces up his mud-caked boots, whether in informal games or for a semiprofessional team in the town of General Las Heras, where he earns around 100,000 pesos per game.
The informal tournaments can run deep into the night, meaning Migueles often starts his workday running on hardly any sleep. But he wouldn't change it.
"Soccer is everything to me," said Migueles. "I gave up everything for soccer: work, birthdays, there's no one I haven't sacrificed for soccer."
AGENCIES VIA XINHUA
