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In the high stakes Texas Hold’em poker game of making soccer a mainstream sport in the United States, the powers that be have been snake bit. In the latest installment, they had a window to reel in some more American soccer fans and they blew it. They got it all in on a bluff and the Manchester United team showed them what a real poker hand was, a Full House of talent beats a bluff, every time. Unfortunately, that means business as usual for the sport in the United States.
Even as the MLS tries to hide its similarities to the NASL it has recently gone on a bit of shopping spree and tried, again, to strengthen its name recognition through player acquisition. Course the MLS tried this before, trying to bring in World Class stars of the game but they treated it like holiday (Lothar Matteus) or early retirement (Hristo Stoichkov) just as many did in the NASL. David Beckham, who has spent a good portion of his MLS career injured or on loan, was the first in an attempt to bring in still relevant world stars. Now it appears he’ll have company as once again, the MLS finds itself hoping to capitalize on a successful World Cup for television audiences in the U.S.
Thierry Henry is a superstar who should score goals but some observers would suggest his decline has been self-evident for a few years and it might do worse for the league for him to dominate from day one than any bump from him just being here. Rafa Marquez has a pedigree of a star with contributions in Barcelona but not the glamour of say a Ronaldhino and feels more like a regional player even if he is world class.
Henry’s inclusion in the French squad that went through two scandals in the last year, one his hand ball goal creation against Ireland, and two their World Cup flameout this year, doesn’t make him a beloved figure to many U.S. fans and may not be the draw everyone assumes him to be.
The soccer on display at the All Star game had but one U.S. National player contributing, Donovan, and that was for 20 minutes. The shining moment was limited to Brian Ching’s goal which showed why he might have deserved a spot on the U.S. roster and playing time in South Africa, but after that, the game was a showcase for Manchester United’s talent and to a far lesser extent mostly second tier foreign nationals representing the U.S.’s league.
The MLS All Stars had been undefeated in games vs. European and English sides (calling the shoot-out loss to Everton a tie) but this time it got mauled. For all the strides forward the league has made, it felt like this was yet another failure for soccer in a telecast that was supposed to be a showcase. This follows suit with soccer and the drab performances that always ensue in games Americans care about and tune into.
In a packed NFL stadium fans came out to see Manchester United, who had just lost to the lowly Kansas City Wizards, but more importantly to see if America’s league was as good as the National Team was in the World Cup. They wanted to know if Sir Alex Ferguson was being flattering or honest in his assessment of how far the league has come. Perhaps it was merely the gamesmanship of a seasoned world class manager salty from the Wizards defeat and merely sandbagging against the next opponent.
The mostly second stringers of Man United punished the Americans with a lot of young kids fighting for spots. The only conclusion fans in Houston and behind TV sets everywhere could make was the league still isn’t ready for primetime.
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