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Once again Showcase Game for Soccer Shows only Failure

Manchester United’s 5-2 demolishing of the MLS All Stars will only chase away fans not sell tickets. If you think of the USSF (United States Soccer Federation) and the MLS’s attempts to mainstream the sport in the country as a poker game, they basically got called when bluffing with most of their chips in the middle of the pot. On the backs of an attention grabbing World Cup run, the MLS All-Star game against Manchester United had a great deal of bluster, it was supposed to show just how far the league has come.

A result versus the Red Devils wasn’t going to be easy but as they were early in their preseason with mostly second stringers insiders thought it might be a statement game made before a bigger audience still experimenting with becoming soccer fans. In poker terms, the Texas Holdem poker game ended with the All Stars holding a hand with an ace high (Landon Donovan and little else) and Manchester United holding a Full House of promising talent. That’s a decided characteristic of soccer in this country.

In the United States, baseball’s minor and major league system provided the basis for the name of the current first division American soccer league (Major League Soccer). In a sports landscape devoid of Premierships, there were the National Football League, the National Hockey League (though we assume the National refers to Canada), the National Basketball Association, and Major League Baseball as forerunners as professional sports leagues.

The previous attempt at soccer was named the North American Soccer League (NASL) but that’s league’s storied demise is everything the MLS has tried not to be. So it is little wonder the National Soccer League was not an option and the MLS was birthed. Yet, it seems MLS and soccer in America can’t keep from tripping over its cleats and somewhat repeating the mistakes it wants to distance itself from like the NASL.

The rest of the world not familiar with baseball, which for the most part means the rest of the world, might scratch their heads at that nomenclature but it is as American as it gets. Unfortunately, the performance against Manchester United in the MLS All Star game was as American as soccer gets. For starters who else has an All Star Game in midseason?

The history of soccer and television and building a fanbase in the States has been a series of fits and starts with a step or two backward for every step forward. There has been progress but in the grand scope of things it has moved at a snails pace. Traditional Americans say the world’s game moves at that snails pace too, yet every four years the Americans get more and more engaged into the World Cup. There is some recognition that at the highest levels the game can be tantalizingly fast but that only serves to highlight the disparity between the domestic league and the world’s greatest players.

How will a league survive when even the casual fans want American’s brightest star, Landon Donovan, to find success on foreign soil because they realize the MLS just isn’t up to snuff? Why not bring the best here? Well, the NASL tried that and it failed. America has seen the Cosmos predate the Galacticos at Real Madrid, with a model of bringing in the world’s best (okay, just after the apex of their careers), with Franz Beckenbaeur patrolling the same turf as Pele. Didn’t work out so well in the long run. Yes, the NASL built a super-team, but to the detriment of the rest of the league, and the crowds showed up only when the Cosmos rolled into town.

The Cosmos are filling out an All Star game roster any time soon, and this year absent were some of the bigger names in the MLS and in the U.S. Most of the native Americans ply their trade in Europe and through scheduling quirks those that don’t were in an awkward spot to play. Manchester United weren’t fielding their A team either but the team they fielded certainly looked more world class than the All Stars from an entire league.

To Be Continued ?

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