It’s never a bad idea to find out how we are seen from abroad.
Researching the career of Lothar Matthaeus took me through scores of German newspapers and magazines. In Der Spiegel, best described as like Time but more erudite, an article about MLS was headlined “A Sleeping Giant.”
It came from a quote by Reiner Calmund, the general manager of Bayer Leverkusen, the German club that has acquired several American players. Calmund proclaimed that the future of soccer lies in the United States.
It’s just a matter of time, Calmund explained, that sponsors will discover the attraction of soccer and then, he said, “The stars won’t want to go to Italy anymore. They’ll all transfer to America.”
And it gets better. Such growth will increase salaries, and the boost will create an unbeatable national team.
“The Amis will wipe the floor with all the rest of us.”
Of course, Matthaeus’ leap across the Atlantic recalled Franz Beckenbauer’s arrival 23 years ago. Here’s what Der Spiegel offered then: “Not since Wilhelm the Second chopped trees in the Dutch forest while in exile has royalty sunk as low as Kaiser Franz.”
Beckenbauer certainly didn’t see it that way. In his autobiography he wrote that while his New York Cosmos may have comprised of players from 14 nations, “We weren’t a circus troupe. We played outstanding technical and successful soccer. … We were on par with Bundesliga teams.”
Seeing Hristo Stoitchkov hit two fine goals in the exciting MLS opener recalled the NASL days when we could see World Cup stars in our own stadiums. But then there were also too many ordinary foreigners who drained the coffers.
Maybe MLS has the right formula. Promising Americans, rising young imports and a sprinkling of world stars. While watching that thrilling Dallas-Chicago game, I started believing in the Sleeping Giant.