MLS Wants South Americans, Not European Has-Beens

By: Laurie | December 7th, 2007

Those aging Europeans. What good are they? Oh, yeah, sure, they sell out stadiums. And cause people to buy hundreds of thousands of jerseys and other team gear. And make sportscasters whose lives revolve around the big three say the word “soccer” for the first time in their lives. But besides that? Meh. The future is in Central and South America.

Okay, that’s kind of a paraphrase, but MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis did say something along those lines recently at Soccerex, a business conference dealing with soccer.

He said MLS will continue to scour South America for talent. That, instead of aging European stars, is the key to the league’s future success. The growing Hispanic-American population will be drawn to Spanish-speaking stars, and those players generally come cheaper than Europe’s biggest names.

”What is the real story of 2007 for MLS? The actual story has been looking to South America and importing players from South America who are very significant performers in our league,” Gazidis said at Soccerex, an international soccer business conference in South Africa. “South America — that is a market we are mining internationally in the short term.”

There is some truth to this. The league can’t afford too many Beckhams at $6.5 million a year plus a share of merchandising revenues. And the latino market for futbol is huge, and it’s something MLS marketing hasn’t quite been able to tap into yet. But there’s more to it than that.

The impact of players from Central and South American players is already raising the level of play in MLS. Did anybody else notice that when Juan Pablo Angel came to MLS, he was scoring pretty much at will? A little flick of the ball, or a split-second’s hesitation and he was past a defender or keeper. But within a few months MLS defenses had started to adapt. He was still good, but no longer god. This is good for both MLS and US soccer.

Gazidis also made this point:

Gazidis said MLS officials are determined to make this league a popular destination for South American players. He hopes they will influence the U.S. style of play, and improve the U.S. national team’s chances on the world stage.

I had this same thought yesterday as I was watching the U-17s, who are currently coached by former Colombian international Wilmer Cabrera. These kids impressed the hell out of me. I found myself thinking, “This is a very tactically and technically proficient bunch.” I have no idea how much of this comes from Cabrera and how much comes from all the other coaches the boys have had in their lives, but I think that teaching kids some diversity in their playing styles can only be a good thing.

So Ivan, I’m with you. Let’s see how South and Central American talent can help the US.