Lili Cantero thinks of soccer as family.

The artist from Paraguay — someone who has built a devoted following in the soccer world, with her work admired by Argentina captain and Inter Miami star Lionel Messi, among others — still has fond childhood memories of gathering with relatives around a radio to listen to matches almost every weekend.

"That's where my love for the game began," Cantero said."For me, soccer, futbol, is being with family and being with friends. The game is not just a game. It's a culture. It's love. It is family. It is friendship."

And now, it is her work.

Leading up to the start of the FIFA World Cup in June, Cantero will be putting her specialty — painted soccer balls — in 10 different businesses in Miami's Wynwood Art District, a place where warehouses have been converted into galleries and where just about anything can be turned into a mural. It is the heartbeat of the Miami art community, and for Cantero and the marriage of her work and soccer, it seemed a perfect fit.

"I think it's the perfect combination in the perfect moment with the perfect people," said Cantero, who has called Miami home for about two-and-a-half years. "Messi coming to the city was ... an interesting way to grow this sport here, and in the country. Because many kids, they look at him with so many aspirations and dreams and everything, so they think they can play this sport and also to grow in this sport. And I think that's beautiful."

Cantero's approach is simple: she believes soccer, like art, can bring people of different races, different backgrounds, different languages — different everything — together. Her biggest break might have come in 2018, when a pair of soccer boots she designed — adorned by images of Messi and his family — were sent to the soccer legend. Messi posed with them and the image of that moment went viral, suddenly giving Cantero the game's official seal of approval.

Diego Maradona and Pele both knew of her work. Same goes for former Brazil forward Ronaldinho, FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Messi's former Barcelona and Inter Miami teammate Jordi Alba, among many others.

The first of the Wynwood series of ball displays was unveiled last month when she revealed one depicting how Spain won the 2010 World Cup.

"I feel honored to be known for this art and what I do," Cantero said.

"I think art and soccer have the power to change the world. It changed my life, so I can tell that it's true. And when you go to the favelas (impoverished Brazilian neighborhoods) and you see, like, the kids playing, thinking the only way that they could do something in life is through soccer, that's art for me."

Wynwood is always bustling; art and fashion dominate the area, and there is no shortage of people working hard to ensure everything stays vibrant.

The World Cup will bring tens of thousands of people to south Florida, and Wynwood wants them to know they're all welcome in the art district.

"We're always promoting the arts, we're always changing the art in the neighborhood, the murals," David Lombardi, the chairman of the Wynwood Business Improvement District, said at the unveiling of Cantero's first ball in the series.

"It's vibrant, it's changing, it's alive, and people want to be a part of it."

Cantero never played the game, but is addicted to it.

She showed up for her first unveiling in a Spain jersey — mindful, yes, of how that nation ousted Paraguay, her homeland, on the way to that title.

Some soccer balls take Cantero days to paint. Others take her just a couple of hours. At the unveiling of the project, she even did some live work — setting up a tablet to her left, looking at an image of Spain star David Villa celebrating a goal during that 2010 World Cup.

With deft flicks of her right hand, she added that image of Villa, bit by bit, to the back of the ball, oblivious to the crowd that had gathered around to watch her.

Every soccer ball she's designing in this series will depict another World Cup moment.

"I grew up in Paraguay, and everyone tells me you cannot make a living with art. And now, I'm doing this, far away from my country, representing who I am and my roots," Cantero said. "It's been an honor."

Agencies via Xinhua