On a weekend when Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Barcelona were sensationally all held to draws, Arsenal were shattered by Manchester City 3-0, and Inter Milan just managed to sneak past Juventus by a one-goal margin in a thriller in Turin, a reasonable question has to be asked of North America’s premier soccer competition—were American soccer fans even watching the MLS Cup final? This is not to indulge in the banal dismissal of soccer that has become a prerequisite for American sports commentators, but rather to emphasize something of which the MLS has got to be all too aware: with the advent of no less than three full-time soccer channels on cable and satellite in the US, MLS is competing for television viewers with every major league in Europe. And, honestly, there’s no real contest. Among the best players in MLS are players whose careers abroad are over, and teams are all too-often composed of banal, cookie-cutter former college players ( 5’10”, defensive, hard-running, no creativity whatsoever) interspersed with imported “flair” players (Latin or European, slow, washed-up, capable of the occasional backheel and thus better than the rest of the league—think Cuauhtémoc Blanco of the Chicago Fire). This does not, in general, provide for enjoyable soccer.
That being said, it’s a little too easy to be hard on the MLS, and the fact that the league continues to grow and succeed despite its obvious challenges is important. The player pool, for all of its limitations, is improving, albeit slowly. Furthermore, the league’s infrastructure improves by leaps and bounds every year. Gone for the most part are the old days of paltry crowds on old-style turf in college football stadiums. For now, ticket sales are more important than TV rights anyway. The Home Depot Center, along with a host of soccer-specific stadiums going up all over the country, serve as testament to the bright future the sport can have in the US, and it looked glorious today in the California sunshine full of singing, chanting fans who had made the cross-country trip to support the Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls in the MLS Cup Final.
And, although things started off rather inauspiciously with the spectacle of Alexi Lalas shotgunning a jumbo-sized Red Bull on air, apparently the terms of betting against the New Yorkers reaching making it to LA, something kind of surprising happened:
The final was actually a pretty good match.
13 long years on, MLS is getting there. The Red Bulls came out of the gate charging hard, with Jamaican winger Dane Richards impressing in particular. He is exactly the kind of player that American soccer needs—fast, crafty, and unafraid to take on the last defender. But it was Columbus that broke the deadlock, with Alejandro Moreno scoring what would be the matches poorest goal. Moreno plays forward like a center-half, pushing and body-checking his way up the bylines, and his speculative far post effort should have been held easily by Red Bulls keeper Danny Cepero.
The Red Bulls’ answer, however, was pure class. Richards, ever sprightly on the right wing, took on his marker and found the space to slot in gray-haired goleador John Wolyniec, who slid in a nice finish inside the far post. The Red Bulls were back in it. Or so they thought. It was at this point that MLS League MVP—and eventual Cup Final MVP—Guillermo Barros Schelotto took over. Having already put Moreno in for Columbus’ first goal, he set up two goals in the second half to bring his assists tally to 3 on the day and put the game out of reach for Columbus. Particularly gorgeous was his deft chip over the massed New York defense to release American international Frankie Hejduk for the Crew’s third, an easy headed finish. All in all, Columbus, MLS’ best team in the regular season, were worthy winners in the final as well. It wasn’t the perfect showcase for the league, but it was attacking, open, and fluid. It’s really pretty simple: the more games flow like this, the more people will watch them.
If the commentators are to be believed, the game was televised in 142 countries, which is, in a way, truly remarkable. People in Latin America and Europe watching American soccer. Not great soccer, but good soccer, from a league that looks to have the lasting power its predecessors so pointedly lacked.
Of course, it couldn’t end perfectly—with a cheesy grin, League Commissioner Don Garber rather haplessly presented the trophy to “captain Guillermo Barros Schellotto,” despite the fact that the Crew’s actual captain, twelve-year Veteran Heyduk—armband and all—was standing right next to him, waiting to receive the trophy. Here’s a little hint, commish: next time you get confused, they have the names on the back of their shirts.
