And at that after-party we met another one of those Belizean Americans whose story we took an interest in. He is John Mariano Jr and though he's lived in the States all his life, he's proudly Belizean and terribly passionate about Belizean football. We found out why.
John Mariano Jr
"I drove about 8 hours, five hours with the top up and then about three hours with the tope down because I drive a convertible. I was born in Brooklyn, New York and I moved to California but really and truly i claim Belize as my home. I never say I'm a New Yorker or that I'm from the states. I always claim Belize - one love, big up Belize all the time. I was watching the game last week and I was very disappointed because I didn't really know that was a Mariano on the team and they showed the starting line up and I saw a Mariano and all the Mariano in Belize are related, just to let you know. So, I linked up with him, I came down today, I was like 'family, family, family' and he ran over and he was like 'are you a Mariano' and I said 'yes' and he said 'oh, we're family' so right away we started connecting. I go to Belize every Christmas, I try because as a Garifuna I love jonkunu so I go home and dance - wanaragua - one love. "
The next step in our coverage is waiting for the team's return, defeated, but their heads unbowed
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