\u201cIt\u2019s hot, too hot. Very, very hot,\u201d says Clark from Dalkeith, who is standing on a sidewalk in Miami. \u201cI want a wee Arctic blast for about half an hour to calm down.\u201d<\/p>\n
We\u2019re outside the Auld Dubliner in downtown, where a number of Scots have gathered to watch the England game<\/a> and apparently not for reasons of schadenfreude (at least not initially). The mood is upbeat, there are locals arriving to share the vibe, and nobody appears to have tired of drinking just yet.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody loves the Scots,\u201d says Clark\u2019s friend Graeme, from Perth, who seemed to be of the impression that any number of local women had fallen for his accent since he arrived. \u201cYou know our reputation is global. It\u2019s well deserved. We\u2019re good guys.\u201d He whispers: \u201cIt\u2019s just the English that people don\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\n Florida is the new base of the Tartan Army, after they decamped en masse from Boston<\/a> last weekend for Wednesday\u2019s climactic Group C contest with Brazil. A frenzy of attention has followed them, from the media and public alike. Floridians appear determined to have their moment of fun and seize adoption rights to the Tartan Army from Bostonians who, in turn, are still bemoaning their departure and noting that the arriving English just aren\u2019t quite as fun.<\/p>\n On Monday night, the baseball match between the Florida Marlins and Texas Rangers became a mass event for the Scots, who brought to the LoanDepot Park the same energy and songbook they had to Fenway Park 10 days previously. The difference this time was that everyone knew it was going to happen in advance. TV coverage had one camera constantly fixed on the stands, while the crowd got an additional bump from locals looking to capture the occasion for posterity.<\/p>\n Members of the Tartan Army attend the Major League Baseball match between the Miami Marlins and Texas Rangers at LoanDepot Park. Photograph: JC Ruiz\/PA<\/p>\n Scotsmaxxing has become something of an American pastime. Local politicians were on hand to welcome the Tartan Army to Ocean Drive for a formal march along the boardwalk. Bars, in desperate competition for travelling custom, are sticking signs in their windows that read \u201cwe\u2019ve got beer\u201d, in reference to the legend of the Tartan Army drinking Boston dry. It\u2019s not all good news, though, as someone has also taken it upon themselves to remix \u201cNo Scotland<\/a>, no party\u201d in the style of Pitbull.<\/p>\n A lot of the fascination seems to say as much about America as it does the Scots. Locals are thriving off the curiosity being shown towards their country by travelling fans. They also seem genuinely jazzed to be around people whose priority is to have a good time. The Boston consensus appeared to be that the city centre hadn\u2019t been so lively in years. Miami, more renowned as a party town, has its turn now.<\/p>\n Scotland fans march along Ocean Drive on Tuesday. Photograph: Amanda Perobelli\/Reuters<\/p>\n Miami is quite different to Boston, though, and not just because of its tropical climate. Sitting outside the Auld Dubliner, Chris from Glasgow said he was missing New England. \u201cI like Boston better because everything was closer,\u201d he says. \u201cThe beach is great but it\u2019s quite far away. The people are just as nice as in Boston but they\u2019re all from Colombia and Argentina and they\u2019re difficult to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n With around 24 hours until kick-off, there were plans for a return to the Marlins where a bond had been formed with the team\u2019s combustible pitcher Tyler Philips (on Monday night, he said he could feel the energy from the stands \u201cin my chest\u201d). Every bar is likely to be packed, meanwhile, with two-hour queues to enter the fanzone as everyone looks to get a piece of the tartan action.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also the small matter of the Sele\u00e7ao coming to town too. Clark says any Brazilians he has met have been \u201cgreat craic\u201d, though others said they\u2019d only bumped into the rival fanbase at their hotel. The expectation is for a showstopping gathering of the clans sometime before the match, with videos to surely follow shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n Brazil and Scotland supporters already gathering on Ocean Drive. Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n