I’ve always held that you can learn a heck of a lot about the world by following soccer.
You can also learn a lot about the United States by listening to those involved in soccer abroad.
I always remember a conversation I had with a colleague at the Paris magazine France Football a few years back at the World Cup ’98 draw in Marseilles.
He had covered the ’94 World Cup in the United States, and he talked about his stay in the Bay Area. When he departed, he turned to me and said, “You’re lucky to live in such a wonderful country.”
I had never heard anyone say that to me before.
This week, we look at the MLS stars who are settling in the United States.
They all talk about the great opportunity they’ve been given to raise their families in the United States.
It’s not a new phenomenon.
Since the 1920s, when English and Scottish players came en masse to play in the old American Soccer League, foreigners have brought their skills to the United States.
The NASL imported hundreds of foreigners during its three decades of operation. Dozens chose to stay in the United States and raise their families. Many of them have been instrumental in promoting soccer during the post-NASL soccer boom.
The big-name stars left after the NASL collapsed, but they all have fond memories of the United States.
Franz Beckenbauer spent five years with the Cosmos. He returned to Germany, where he is the most powerful man in German soccer, but he calls his years in New York the happiest years of his career.
MLS cannot compete with what the big-money clubs in Europe offer these days, but it has something else to offer.