A Miami connection will be on the feet of a soccer star during Argentina match

FIFA World Cup admin July 2, 2026 0 Comments

A Miami connection will be on the feet of a soccer star during Argentina match

When Argentina and Cape Verde take the field for a World Cup showdown in Miami Gardens on Friday night, one player will be wearing some hometown gear.

Cape Verde’s 41-year-old goalkeeper, Josimar José Évora Dias, also known as Vozinha, will be wearing footwear from Senda Athletics, a Miami business owned by Edgewater-based entrepreneur Santiago Halty.

“I told him, ‘Sir, you are changing the world because you’re showing the world that it’s never too late to reach your dreams,’“ Halty, 42, said of a conversation with Vozinha.

Cape Verde has made it to the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time.

Halty has soccer in his blood as well.

After his birth in Indio, California, his family moved to Buenos Aires, when he was 4. He played soccer every chance he got, and the beautiful game became a way of life.

In 2001, after his graduation from high school, Halty moved to live with his father in the United States. After his father’s death, Halty enrolled at a San Diego community college and worked part-time jobs while living in his car. He graduated from University of California San Diego with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 2007.

An opportunity to study in Beijing in 2008 exposed Halty to the Olympics, and creating fair trade, or ethical products.

“This could be my opportunity to share my passion for football, for soccer and for sustainability,” Halty remembered thinking at the time.

Halty started Senda Athletics in December 2010. The first shipment of Senda soccer balls arrived in May 2011. Halty attended trade shows with his now-wife Paige Lubawy to learn everything he could about building a sportswear business.

In 2024, Halty first planned how his brand would participate in the World Cup. Senda has already been a part of three Futsal World Cups. Futsal is a variation of soccer that uses five players on each side and is popular in Argentina and Brazil.

The boots that Vozinha wears were developed during that time. Players like Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau gave feedback on aspects like fit and durability.

“We know how to work with elite athletes,” Halty said. “We knew that we could be in the World Cup, and we couldn’t miss the opportunity to be out there. This is in our backyard. We knew we had to do it.”

Life has moved fast for Halty in the last few months. In April, he moved from Austin to Miami with the focus of expanding Senda on a global scale.

That same month, he also connected with the Cape Verde goalie. The two hit it off, and Vozinha now greets Halty’s 4-year-old daughter, Ana, on calls.

Halty embraces the way Senda Athletics is punching above its weight as a sportswear brand in a tournament full of global brands and stars. He attributes his company’s underdog success story to an unwavering belief in himself.

“If you don’t try, you never know how far you can get,” he said. “And I’m so glad I did that 16 years ago.”