No respect for soccer: LA caps CCL match at 7500 attendance

The LA Galaxy has been forced to reduce attendance for next week's return leg of the quarterfinal in Concacaf Champions League versus Toronto match to 7,500 due to a attendance agreement with Cal-State Dominguez Hills over the usage of the university's parking lots during the school year. We see the point, but for the sake of the sport, the team and the fans, the response should be: erroneous and unfair, Silly and surprising.

If the LA Galaxy is indeed to be a nationwide and worldwide team, then this sort of thing will need to be remedied. There are plenty of universities out there that have basketball or football games in their grounds and there isn't ever any problem with attendance. People make way. It's just the way it is.

But there is still a lack of respect for the game here in the United States. That much is obvious with this latest insult. The LA Galaxy is a worldwide brand. They have world class players in David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane. The Galaxy are also the defending champions of Major League Soccer and reside in a heavily-international American city.

Perhaps the most telling feature in this dilemma is the fact that the first leg of the quarterfinal drew a record 47,658 fans to the Rogers Centre. The Galaxy's Home Depot Center holds 27,000 and won't be even a third full. Major League Soccer, please assert your priorities or at least listen to your players if your fans and critics go unnoticed. Said Danny Koevermars of Toronto about the projected LA attendance: "That is stupid, that is stupid, LA Galaxy is a big club in LA and they showed it because they have three big name players."

MLS wins in Mexico without a meaning

Photo credit: MLS

Odd title perhaps. Then again so is the situation at field level. Last month, FC Dallas and Seattle Sounders FC managed historical first-time wins on Mexican soil against Pumas and Monterrey, respectively, at the 2011/2012 Concacaf Champions League. But are those wins meaningful if you can't equal the feat on home soil?

For Dallas this happened tonight as they saw their potential lead in their Champions League group disappear with a loss at home. The 1-0 win in Mexico was erased by a 2-0 loss to Pumas at home. So, all things being equal, they came out losing by a -1 goal differential. So was history really truly made? Cosmetically, perhaps. But point for point it's really not that meaningful. Had Dallas won tonight's game, it local supremacy would have been more evident.

This doesn't just go for Dallas. Seattle could have made history last night by winning their game, at home, versus relative-minnow Herediano of Costa Rica. Herediano had been outscored 9-1 until they defeated a slightly short-handed Sounders team by 1-0. Again, win at home or at least tie in order to have the away game be meaningful.

For LA Galaxy, winning their game at home versus Morelia will be as much of a statement as their controversial loss on Mexican soil. If Colorado can win abroad then they will have erased their terrible result at home.

These days it is clear that teams must not present "B" or "C" squads in continental games. One could argue that this is why Dallas and the Sounders were able to win in Mexico. It is also true that there is nothing wrong with fielding a defensive team when trying to protect a lead. Just something for MLS to ruminate on.

No Beckerman: RSL loses in CCL final

Photo credit: Kansas City Star

Real Salt Lake lost tonight's Concacaf Champions League final in a spectacular thud. Monterrey didn't overrun them. RSL had a 2-2 tie away-goal advantage and couldn't keep the Mexicans off the score sheet. They also failed to score on numerous chances. Tough luck for the team, the league and the soccer nation.

Monterrey simply attacked with their most potent weapon--Humberto Suazo--and got the goal they needed. Real Salt Lake lacked inventiveness within the box itself. Numerous times we saw Saborio, Morales, Wingert, Williams and Espindola just not getting that final shot. The ball landed in the area but they didn't have a clean shot. Good defending? Perhaps.

And then there's one very obvious fact: no Kyle Beckerman. The RSL captain and US international was suspended due to yellow card accumulation (that yellow, incidentally was wholly unwarranted). He is a leader in the midfield and a player counted on to disarm the opponent's attack. Real Salt Lake may be a deep squad, but it's obvious that Beckerman wasn't easily replaced. Not by a long shot. Suazo and Ayovi cut through the Claret and Cobalt's mid line without mercy for much of the match. RSL was left to chase the game for most of the second half.

It was a crude, cruel, rude awakening for MLS fans. This wasn't going to be their year. Not yet. Not so even though the pieces were clearly laid out for the league to acquire its first continental cup in the modern era (for LA and DC wins and why they don't compare click here). Jason Kreis was going to be the messiah for the league, the coach that finally brought the cup home. Real Salt Lake would be the breakthrough squad. International spotlight would be on the league, and this time for soccer reasons.

But that's how it works in sports. Not even mighty Real Madrid could thwart Messi and Barcelona, not even at home at the Bernabeu in the UEFA Champions League. Why should Salt Lake be any different? It's time to pick up the pieces and get ready for the next tournament. MLS did a good job with incentives to win this tournament, and general support was impressive.

So thank you, Real Salt Lake. Your team and your fans make us proud of our league. In victory and in defeat, American soccer fans stand behind you.

RSL is MLS

Photo credit: Brian Nicholson, Desert News

Real Salt Lake took the first step into uncharted territory: championship of the Concacaf Champions League. They did so by tying 2-2 against a powerhouse of the western hemisphere: Monterrey. Monterrey includes players like De Nigris (Mexico), Neri Cardozo (Argentina), Walter Ayovi (Ecuador) and world-renowned Humberto Suazo (Chile). Real Salt Lake fought back twice on the scoreboard to level the game at a packed Estadio Tecnologico.

It was the play by Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave and Nick Rimando which anchored the Real Salt Lake defense. In the midfield, captain Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales built and distributed plays. Espindola and Saborio had frustrating nights, as they were continuously shut down by the Monterrey defense. This, however, allowed for players like Borchers and Morales to create chances that developed into goals.

Jason Kreis played his cards well tonight. He maintained a good defensive posture that allowed for his midfield to spark into action when his attackers were marked. Two wonderful goals gave the team, the city and the league reason to believe that silverware is possible next week. RSL carries a two away-goal advantage into Rio Tinto Stadium (where they are undefeated in 36 games). A win in the next game or a 0-0 or 1-1 tie means RSL takes the title, MLS and its fans are behind you, RSL. You are MLS.

#MLS4RSL

Class of MLS: Real Salt Lake advances to Concacaf final

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Real Salt Lake made history tonight by reaching the final of the Concacaf Champions League. They were the first MLS team to advance to the semifinal and have now taken the next step after defeating Saprissa of Costa Rica. It is truly an accomplishment for both the team and the league. It can be argued that the level of play in MLS has risen to new heights with player development, expansion and the influx of top players.

A couple of things need to be acknowledged, however. This isn't the first time an MLS squad reaches or wins a continental tournament. DC United first won in the tournament's previous incarnation, the Concacaf Champions Cup, in 1998. This was followed by the LA Galaxy in 2000. So, it's not technically a first but more of a renaissance of American soccer. Remember, however, that those teams still practiced the archaic MLS style of countdown clocks and shoot-outs.

If there is another important point to make about the current level of play of Concacaf and the MLS, then we have to turn to the Mexican Primera. Theirs is a premier league and the best in the Americas along with the Brazilian and Argentinean leagues. Mexico is a heavy importer of talent from South America and they have also become decent exporters of players, i.e. Javier Hernandez, Rafael Marquez, Carlos Salcido. They are also heavily involved in the South American Copa Libertadores. That alone raises the expectations and quality of the league.

This is where the competition gets truly special for Real Salt Lake and MLS. Can it top a premier soccer team from Mexico? Can MLS live up to the level the national team has played in for the past decade?

The Concacaf Champions League is fun to watch just because so many more teams are in action and more of MLS is exposed abroad. It's curious perhaps, that it was expanded from the 8-team Champions Cup to the format it's in today mainly because it coincided with the arrival of Beckham and the Designated Player Rule. Coincidence? Why not spread the wealth of marquee international players for all of North and Central America and the Caribbean to enjoy. MLS is unique in the Americas in its import of global talent. It's time, perhaps, to see this reflected on the pitch by winning a continental tournament.

MLS international: The Champions League

No, not UEFA. We're not in Europe, even if our style and players are more suited to the European game. I'm speaking of the Concacaf Champions League or the Concachampions, whatever you want to call it. Christened last year as a substitute for the Concacaf Champions Cup in order for the conference to emulate other tournaments around the world that have a longer period of midweek play or perhaps to cash in on the new MLS designated player rule. Whatever the reason, it's been miserable for MLS. Last year only Houston made it to the quarterfinals and were booted off in their first game. Somehow USL's Puerto Rico Islanders made it to the semis.

This year, Columbus punched its ticket to the quarterfinals thanks to poor play from Costa Rica's Saprissa. The Crew has done exceptionally well, save for their game against Mexican foes. Houston, however, failed to win against Metapan, a Salvadoran team that was outscored 0-17 prior to last night's match. Somehow, though, they were able to score 3 goals on Houston, enough to win 3-2 and leave Houston out of the quarterfinals. DC United will be hoping that winless San Juan Jabloteh can beat or tie Marathon (Honduras) to get past the group stage.

It suffices to say that right now MLS just can't cut it internationally. Last year both Chivas and New England were booted off the competition by teams from Panama and Trinidad. I give full credit to those teams, but we have to look at this objectively. I don't know if it's lack of experience or lack of motivation for players with matches outside MLS (Quaranta was quoted at one point saying that he wasn't as interested in matches outside MLS but instead wanted to focus on playoffs).

Another point is the lack of a reserve league when these games happen near the end of the MLS regular season. There just aren't enough players for all these tournaments. I think that until the reserve league is reinstated (no hurry with the economy as it is) then we can expect more international failures. No qualms. We just don't have the arguments at this point. The MLS - Mexican league matchups left us with an 0-6 record. The league should, at this point, continue to concentrate on building its fan base here in the States, build more stadiums, and solidify their teams. At some point, though, true fans of the game will want international success. It's part of club soccer around the world and it brings prestige to the league, not to mention a degree of accreditation that MLS lacks right now.

More of the same: MLS vs Mexican teams

Wow. Now that's 0-6 for three separate MLS squads versus their Mexican counterparts. All three teams, DCU, Columbus and Houston have failed to score a victory or even a tie against their Mexican rivals. Why is this so? Clear dominance. Bad luck. No reserve league. Call it whatever you want but the sad truth is MLS just cannot cut it against their Concacaf rivals these days.

Our two sentinels, Houston and Columbus Crew, both with impressive home records and en route to a possible MLS cup final, were outscored by a combined 0-10. Columbus, our current champs, were thumped 5-0 by Cruz Azul in Mexico and went down 0-2 in Columbus (the home field for the American national team). I wouldn't feel so bad if it weren't for other teams in Concacaf like Arabe Unido (Panama) and Marathon (Honduras) winning their respective home matches against Mexican teams. Both have put DCU and Houston in very precarious positions. Houston might have a better chance assuming Pachuca can take care of business at home versus a Panamanian side that spanked them 4-1 earlier in the tournament. For DC United, despite their impressive multi-goal wins against Jabloteh and Marathon, need a result whilst visiting mighty Toluca.

That's my rant for today. No real answers and too many questions. There are more important questions and problems with MLS, yes. Team pride, credibility for the league, and international recognition are just as important as marketing and big stars in world football. Perhaps this is what upsets so many fans. Then again, could it be that there are American fans that don't care about their team's games outside of MLS? An interesting question .

MLS in the CONCACAF Champions League

What a disgrace. It wasn't enough that, save for Charlie Davies, no one else in the national team showed up to play against Mexico at the Azteca. Now it seems even our best clubs fall to Mexican competition. And why is that? Two reasons: team depth and poor player decision on the pitch. DCU managed not to win...again. Never mind that it was against Meixcan powerhouse Toluca. No surprise there with an injury-ravaged and overcommitted team playing in three competitions with only 24 players. But at home again? This extends their inability to win in CONCACAF play since the end of the Champion's Cup two years ago. Sad indeed.

Then there's Columbus. They squandered the game early on when Cruz Azul went ahead by two goals in the first twenty minutes. A silly couple of fouls and they were down a man going into halftime. They looked dangerous in the attack, yes, but ultimately being a man down against a confident Mexican team was too much for the best team in Major League Soccer.

And what about Houston? The feisty Texan team just made their life harder by losing three players going into the next match, including midfield maestro Stuart Holden. They were even up on the scoreboard until the very last minute, when the Panamanian club was able to even out the score.

What have we learned here? Team depth. Yes, the economy is bad and this probably should not and will not come into play in MLS decisions for the time being. But it is worth to note that not having a reserve league hurts the league internationally and lowers the play in US Open Cup. Just ask the teams that lost against USL sides. I think that's the most important lesson. Teams always have a hard time playing in Mexico, that's a given, but we are certainly not going to have a strong showing there if we play the same guys that are busy trying to inch their team into the play-offs.

Oh, and the two ghosts of American soccer present: red cards and focus. These are the unfortunate fruits of poor decision both on and off the pitch. Players have to be smarter when they are involved in international play. More experienced clubs thrive on these situations. And the latter, focus, is to remind ourselves why we lost to Brazil in the Confederations Cup: we let the other team dominate until they scored. That's what happened to Houston yesterday. Now they will be without Holden or Ashe (pretty much the whole of the midfield) when they visit mighty Pachuca. Ouch.

MLS 2009 Attendance stats week 22 & 23

Updating for two weeks since I'm so busy. Concachampions action is going on now and not many at the stadiums: about 6000 at Columbus for the clash with Puerto Rico and about 8,000 in Houston against Metapan. Looking at this objectively, when we see the numbers in Marathon of Honduras, those were pretty low as well. Granted, it's a week night and no real big stars or big teams. Not much respect for the competition in general. We can compare this to low-level South American teams in the Libertadores or Sudamericana. Sometimes some games are just not that interesting.

Back to attendance analysis. Don't be too surprised with San Jose's climb out of the negative in the 2009-2008 attendance differences. They actually benefit from the Chivas (Guadalajara) versus Barcelona game at Candlestick in San Francisco. To filter that out I'm presenting the mean vs median for the western conference below.

Added to Beckham's return, barring red cards like the one that kept him out of a sold-out midweek match in Chicago, is the sudden influx of high-caliber Mexican strikers. In are Jesus Padilla and Luis Angel Landin. Padilla was usurped out of Guadalajara presumably due to the fact that he was born in the US although he is also Mexican by parentage. Keep in mind that Chivas is a team built to have exclusively Mexican players. Landin, on the other hand, is a proven striker for Cruz Azul, Pachuca and the Mexican national team. He is now the first designated player for Houston. The orange, always fun to watch, now add Landin to its considerable artillery. Look for a potential MLS Cup or semifinal at least.

MLS 2009 Attendance stats week 21

A quick update on attendance stats. Not too much change since Mr Becks was on duty in an international LA Galaxy friendly against world powerhouse Barcelona. Decent attendance in Chicago and Houston. Dallas got into the 5 digits for once. With Kenny Cooper gone and the transfer window closing soon Dallas will need to find a way to attract more fans to the stands.

Elsewhere in MLS this week is the apparent inability of our league to win in the Concachampions (Concacaf Champions League). DCU got through on penalties and Toronto couldn't get past USL side Puerto Rico islanders. Sad indeed. Full credit to the Islanders, though. DCU's schedule is extremely full from here on out and that might impede it from trully performing at a good level in all competitions. Partly to blame is MLS for not allowing more reserve players instead of the current 24 per team. This may need revision.

Stay tuned for thoughts and analysis of Josmer (Jozy) Altidore's move to Hull City of the Premier League.

Puerto Rico Islanders: USL strikes again!

The Puerto Rico Islanders came through with a 2-0 victory. I admit I wasn't very positive on the possibilities that the lone non-Mexican team in the Concacaf Champions League would have. Not against mighty Cruz Azul. Mighty? Apparently not. Tonight, a hard-fought win by the USL team has put it that much closer to a spot in the Concachampions final and a spot in this year's Club World Cup. Granted, they still must face their Mexican counterparts in the return leg at Estadio Azul. I had heard some rumblings about the "cementeros" not living up to expectations and losing to lowly CD America--yes, to those of you unfamiliar with the Mexican league, the team is owned by a cement company--. Indeed, Galindo's team may not be a true test for a feisty USL squad that has surpassed all expectations.

This brings me to another conclusion. How is it that two so-called second-tier teams are able to make it so far in a continental tournament? Well, you can thank the Concacaf chiefs for that. No other football confederation allows for a non-league team to advance into official continental competitions. UEFA Cup and Sudamericana certainly don't follow this scheme. But where would you get representatives from Canada aside from Toronto or the Caribbean aside from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago? Clearly something got lost in translation. Even America's own representatives, which were all MLS in the first installment of the tournament, can have a USL side. That's right, the winner of the US Open Cup can go through to the Concachampions.

So let's say that Charleston beats DC in last year's Open Cup. That would mean that the US would get the Revs, Chivas and Houston along with Charleston. Ridiculous? Yes, sadly. This is the same as saying Barnsley goes through to the UEFA Champions League or Cup, or Municipal Canar goes through to the Libertadores or Sudamericana.

I understand that there is a good deal of PR (pardon the pun) going on here. No one in Concacaf wants to be left out if they have legitimate teams. But then again, what does that say about the rest of the leagues in this conference? Is the Concacaf really that much worse than the AFC (Asia) or CAF (Africa)? Or, let's try another sport--Asheville tourists in the World Series. . . I'm all about being fair to everyone but there are lines that should be clearly defined. In the meantime, how about that USL?! I love my Railhawks and I'm pulling for the Islanders all the way! Maybe it is true, USL isn't a lower division--it is an alternative league to MLS.

Concachampions: Montreal (USL) to the rescue

After seeing an uninspired Houston Dynamo squander a win against an undermanned Atlante of Cancun game at Robertson stadium I was getting ready to forget about MLS, and for that matter, North America from the Concacaf Champions League. But I was wrong. It wasn't another MLS team (New England, DCU and Chivas USA were all knocked out of contention in the preliminary rounds and group phase), it was USL's Montreal Impact that showed up and beat one of Mexico's top teams--Santos Laguna de Torreon. On a night that saw the biggest crowd yet for the "Concachampions" (55000+), the USL team showed up, dominated and won the game. Mexican media and the club itself claimed that the synthetic pitch plus a failure to convert chances led to their demise. More impressive is the fact that the Mexican side had starters on the pitch, including great players like Mexican international 'keeper Osvaldo Sanchez and Ecuador striker Christian Benitez.

My take? Darn good football from North America's "second division"--USL-1. I'm starting to agree with one of my readers that claimed USL is more like an "alternative" league. After all, they pick up MLS rejects, recent NCAA graduates and random foreign players. This also makes a case for Montreal re-entering a bid for an MLS team that would give it higher international presence for an up-and-coming Canadian soccer play. This may hold even more promise as Miami's potential bid for a team may have been squandered by Barcelona following the global economic downturn.

So, with tonight's win by USL's Puerto Rico Islanders against Marathon of Honduras it is not at all impossible that we can see two USL squads make it all the way to the Concachampions semis. Either MLS needs to step up its international play or there should be a stronger relationship with USL. I'm not going to blame Houston's form on the fact that they're not playing "competitively" right now. Montreal isn't in-season at the moment either. As a side note, I'm looking forward to watching a USL-1 (local team Carolina Railhawks) team take on an MLS team (Revolution), even if it is pre-season.

Highlights below:

USL and MLS

Just yesterday I received a pleasant, albeit unexpected phone call. It was the Carolina Railhawks on the line wanting to know about my experience at the game, input I might have and the kind of media I'm most in contact with (that being XM, FSC/ESPN, the Internet). Granted, I've only been to one Railhawks game, last year, against the Red Bulls in what I hoped (and my wish was granted) would be Jozy Altidore's last season with MLS. It was a great experience, a great although uneventful game, good family atmosphere, some scattered Hispanics reminiscing days of futbol, and even some rowdy fans pulling for the men in orange on the far side of the stadium (WakeMed Soccer Park).
The Railhaks belong to America's so-called "second tier" (lower division) United Soccer Leagues or USL-1 [a reader actually commented it is an alternative league to MLS and that is correct]. After reading up on them I found that they have several divisions including player development, women's leagues and tryouts. They, of course, compete in the US Open Cup, one of the oldest soccer competitions in the world and which pairs up amateur, semi-pro and professional teams in a cup-style format. The USL has teams in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Two of these teams, Montreal Impact and Puerto Rico Islanders, advanced through the play-in and group stages of the Concachampions and are now in the quarterfinals. Only Houston made it through out of 4 MLS teams.
I alluded to MLS's recent failures when addressing Concacaf competitions previously and I will not dwell on it here. Instead, I want to point out the obvious high level in the USL. They continuously feed players into MLS and ingest players from the league after their time in MLS competition has expired due to age or performance. But is there a real, true relationship between the leagues? Short answer is no with a but since MLS does, indeed, prick off the best of the best from USL. And yet, after some serious sleuthing, I found that there are a lot of concerned fans of the game out there either on BigSoccer or personal/professional blogs that are collectively annoyed at the lack of relationship between these two institutions. I've read a lot about the youth development in MLS and US Soccer in general but USL seems to be putting a lot of emphasis on this. They also become a repository for college graduates that don't make the grade in MLS or abroad. Reading through MajorLeagueSoccer magazine I've seen the great progress made with the youngsters, there is certain difficulty in transitioning youth development into first team status. Not too long ago it was individuals pointed out how Kassel of the New York Red Bulls saw significant red tape when trying to make a move to MLS. So, besides the attention to detail in the USL, why aren't there more avenues for cooperation? Unlike Minor League Baseball and how its teams are affiliated with MLB clubs, no such format exists between USL and MLS. Given that Americans are obsessed with "drafts" from collegiate institutions and that promotion/relegation has no chance to ever fly in this country, it would only be advisable, if not imperative, that a tighter bond occur between USL and MLS. College drafts, especially this year, do offer an excellent avenue for new players to join the league, but as Steven Goff of the Washington Post has alluded to recently, the omission of a reserves tournament and lowering the number of players in MLS teams will mean very few options for a gifted round of individuals that in the past generated players like Clint Dempsey and Maurice Edu. Generation Adidas, is another avenue for our youngsters that allows them to not count against MLS rosters but there are only a limited amount of spots.
Once expansion teams are fully integrated into the league, spaces will become even more scarce and a partnership with USL gains more attention. Already we've seen some involvement when teams like Seattle Sounders make the jump to MLS and feed in players from their USL squad, but this is not a widespread practice. Clearly, as the Concachampions has shown, there is considerable skill available in America's lower division and it falls upon MLS to learn how to tap into this resource in a much more seamless manner. In the meantime I think I'll enjoy the Railhawks play the Revs in March. At least I get to watch some soccer sometimes.

Concachampions: straight apathy or are we that bad?

Concachampions, i.e. the newly formed "champions league" of the North, Central America and Caribbean Federation (CONCACAF) has started with a fizzle when it comes to MLS. Apathy? Yes, perhaps. The Concachampions (as the media likes to call it) happens to lie at a crossroads of final games in the regular season for MLS (and yes, no actual "league" like in European soccer) and the play-offs. Teams like New England (2nd in the east and arguably one the best teams in MLS) and Chivas are preparing for the gruellengly annoying post-season. The Goats are actually out of play-off contention so you'd hope they would at least try against a limited Panamanian side. So there's the scores: Joe Public 4 - NE 0. Think SuperBowl and the Miami of last season against the unstoppable Patriots (prior to the superbowl). Then think Miami beating New England 60-0. Weird, heh? That's right. That's how it went down tonight. NE players didn't take it seriously and lacked any cleanliness in final touch, Matt Reis looked like he was playing with kids in his backyard and the defense was more interested in the upcoming football (gridiron) season than in this game.
Chivas was a bit different. Preki played a sneaky game with lots of attacking options. So what happened there? Well, theirs is a different tale. . . Kljestan missed a penalty early in the game (yes, the same hero of the Olympics), the Tauro (Panama) goalkeeper wasn't ejected, and Jonathan Bornstein was red carded. And where some teams would have come back from such adversities to win a match against a "group of friends," as Andres Cantor likes to call them, from Panama, the USA Goats faltered and faded and remembered that there is much more to play for inside MLS.
What's wrong with this picture? Well, this tournament was suppose to showcase the American league's dominance (if at least a 2nd to Mexico) in the region. We are left with DC and Houston. Those are more dominant sides that know how to play abroad and get the results needed. The group stage will be played in the midst of end-of-season games and play-offs and we're left wanting more answers from our MLS officials. I agree with claims that the league's teams are just not deep enough and that the way the pay goes these days there's not much room for improvement. I'll give them that much. But they should also remember that winning this tourney gives you the opportunity to play competitively against the best in the region and that the end result of winning the title lets you play against the best in the world in the World Club Tournament.
MLS must not look inwards. Some attention should be payed to the scheduling of these Concachampions games but the rest is up to the teams and to the fans. Let's move on from the baby days of a wannabe league that everyone scoffs at. We have real stars these days and export real stars worth $10 million. Club football doesn't end with MLS but instead becomes more with international tournaments. WHy is it so nice then when Barcelona plays Manchester United? It is my hope that we can address some of these issues soon or stars that were toying with the idea of MLS play may think twice and choose to play in the Emirates, Bahrein, Saudi Arabia or Quatar*.

* Those are all fine leagues with fine pay by the way, just not anywhere close to the USA soccer fans.

Commentary: Club America de Mexico interested in expanding into MLS

As I posted on the MLS Rumors website, XM Satellite Radio's XM Deportivo Deportes De Primera radio show reported that Club America de Mexico is looking to "reach out" to its considerable following in the United States and also look for partnerships with MLS. Michael Bauer, recently elected president of said institution, discusses among other things, participation of America in MLS.
As to whether this is an exploratory partnership a-la-Bundesliga or a rebranding of one of the MLS teams or acquiring a new team remains to be seen.
From some of the comments posted following the story there are two clear sides to the coin: Chivas USA didn't work and this is an American league, and the other, potential rivalries could spark up with Chivas or other teams and an additional border state team could take shape. I might even venture to say FC Dallas could change names (their attendance is meager at best right now). Further, maybe Chicago--as suggested by soccer365.com some time back--could also rebrand and have an excuse to cling on to Blanco for another season (his contract expires at the end of 2008). [Also note that Chivas USA is among a few teams that have seen increases in attendance this year... just look at the 07-08 difference plot.]
Although I tend to side with some of the fans and bloggers out there that this should be an American league, there is nothing wrong with having teams be named after teams abroad. It actually happens to be common practice in Latin America and, and nobody seemed too concerned about this, teams such as FC Barcelona and Boca Juniors have expressed interest in starting up an MLS franchise with their name on it.
We must also be objective and realize that there is a large Hispanic (mainly Mexican) population in the States and that these are soccer-addicted individuals. I also see nothing wrong with repatriating players such as Orozco to play for the red, white and blue. Maybe more transfers will take place between the MLS and the Mexican Leauge. This would be a great deal for the MLS, accruing increasingly more experience against foreign teams that may get the league play in tournaments outside the SuperLiga and Concachampions. . . but that is another thread.