During the current social distancing period, people all over the world are finding creative ways to occupy their days at home, be it by learning something new or simply devoting time to what they’ve always enjoyed. Inter Miami’s Lee Nguyen is no exception, with the midfielder currently diving into his favorite hobbies, like his long-held passion for coffee, during his free time.
“My passion for coffee, honestly it came from when I was in Vietnam. Everyone there drinks coffee like four or five times a day. It’s like a culture there. So, when I was there if we didn’t have anything to do we’d get coffee,” Nguyen said.
“Since I came here to MLS, every time we travel I always try to go to some cool little coffeehouse place that’s not a chain, something local. I got into that and then I was like ‘man I spend so much money on coffee I might as well just get my own machine and make it at home to save some money’,” he added
“My first machine was an espresso, the ones that use those little pods. Then it kind of just grew from there, I just wanted to get deeper into it and learn how to really make my own espressos and froth my own milk. Now I’m trying to get into latte art.”
Nguyen specified that during this time he’s been perfecting his latte art skills, a craft that he’s become passionate about and enjoys sharing with others, including his Inter Miami teammates.
“It just became a hobby and a passion that I wanted to perfect. At first, it took a lot of practice and a lot of trial and error. Eventually, I got the hang of it and now it’s cool to be able to put some art into it and show it to friends when they come over,” he expressed. “Luis Robles, A.J. DeLaGarza and Victor Ulloa live pretty close to my house and they’ve been over a couple of times and had my coffee. They were really impressed by how good it tasted, not just by how it looked. That was pretty satisfying to hear.”
Despite being on a mission to perfect his latte art skills, the 33-year-old also leaves some spare time open for another passion of his: video games. Nguyen shared that he didn’t play video games much until a couple of years ago, but that it’s a stimulating activity that he enjoys and has developed a healthy passion for.
“It started in New England when I was hanging out with some of the younger guys in preseason. The game Fortnite had just come out and I never played video games, not since I was in college. I got on the sticks and started playing and I loved how much of a strategy game it is. I picked it up when I was in New England and then started streaming when I went to LA and got pretty serious into that for a bit. Then I wasn’t really playing all that often this past offseason, but then through quarantine I picked it back up again,” he detailed.
Nguyen said that video games are a good way to stay in touch with his teammates from afar, while also having his say on who the best gamers on the team are.
“There are a lot of guys on the team that game. It’s pretty cool to be able to connect with your teammates through gaming, which is also an awesome way to stay in touch still and banter without being in each other’s presence.”
”It depends on the game you’re playing. From what I’ve seen, I think Robbie Robinson is probably number one on Call of Duty, obviously Rodolfo Pizarro was the best in FIFA and everybody witnessed that in the Twitch tournament, and then I would probably say I’m the best on Fortnite,” he concluded.
