Monday, July 23, 2007

Commentary: “Becks” and the Latin American impact on American soccer

It’s easy to dismiss Major League Soccer (MLS) as a terribly inferior soccer league in a country where the game is of little importance compared to baseball or American football. Even with the arrival of David Beckham to the States some people doubt that his presence will have any sustainable impact to the league and to soccer in the U.S.

Despite the hoopla and hype surrounding Beckham, MLS has a card up its sleeve that may be very valuable for the league: the Designated Player Rule or “Beckham Rule.” The rule allows MLS teams to obtain at least one expensive (read: high-caliber) player without it affecting their salary caps and was created to avoid the bidding wars that led to the demise of the old North American Soccer League. The overall impact of the rule remains to be seen, but so far it has shown some promise in two Latin American players:

  • Colombian Juan Pablo Angel (image) takes up one of the two DPR slots for the New York Red Bulls. (The other slot filled by a U.S. player of Argentine background- Claudio Reyna.) The former star for River Plate and Aston Villa was named MLS player of the month for May and June as he has tallied nine goals in only eleven games. Angel’s efforts were even rewarded during the MLS All-Star Game last Thursday where he received MVP honors.
  • Mexican star Cuauhtémoc Blanco showed the promise anticipated by fans after he played in his debut with the Chicago Fire last night. "We saw a lot of his skills, his vision, his creativity” observed teammate Calen Carr as Blanco scored the Fire’s lone goal in a 1-1 tie in a friendly against Scotland’s Celtic FC.

“Beckham Rule” aside, several notable players from Latin America have made a serious impact on MLS since its inception over a decade ago from Carlos Valderrama and Raul Diaz Arce to Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Carlos Ruiz. Given MLS has problems to contend with, yet the impact of Latin American players in MLS along with the “Beckham Rule” could easily pay long-term dividends for the league.

Sources- Al Jazeera, MLSNET, Wikipedia, sover.net, Metrofanatic, SI.com, FOX Sports

Image- infobae.com

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2 comments:

  1. Miguel Centellas9:05 AM

    Actually, I think more people watch MLS than many think. Several of the teams have built new stadiums, these are regularly filled, and people even come out to watch the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th division games (I know, I've seen them there).

    And the MLS has done something else, smarter than the DPR (but similar to it). The league has specifically brought in "name" players to teams where they will be appreciated. DC United generated an instant fan base by having three Bolivian players on its initial roster (including Marco Antonio Etcheverry). The Bolivian community (one of the largest Hispanic communities in teh area) ate it up.

    Similarly, I went to see a Chicaco Fire game shortly after Hristo Stoichkov joined them. The Bulgarian player was very popular in the East European community, and the stadium was at least half full (and this was Soldier Field).

    I think the MLS will do fine, especially in the long term.

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  2. Erwin C.9:35 AM

    As a lifelong follower of MLS (and the Metros/Red Bulls) I agree with most of what you say. The historic influx of Latin American players to the league has been instrumental to MLS’ growth whether it be Etecheverry and Jaime Moreno to DC or Jorge Campos to LA. (These are rather old examples, mind you).

    With the “Beckham Rule” teams can bring in more well-known players like an Angel or Blanco (or rumor has it Juan Sebastian Veron) but team will be of much better quality unlike MLS’ infancy. The misconception that MLS is really a retirement home for aged superstars is not exactly the case when teams are far better than, say, five years ago. I think this was lost in the hype surrounding Beckham; he will come and go yet the rule nicknamed after him will be watershed for the league.

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