The Commissioner Speaks

Coverage of US run in Confederations Cup demonstrates soccer's progress

Last week, five consecutive halves of focused, persistent and skillful soccer by our U.S. national team captivated soccer fans and the general sports market throughout the United States. ESPN's Pardon the Interruption described Sunday's Confederations Cup Final as the "biggest event of the weekend." The television audience on ESPN and Univision was nearly 8 million strong, more than big-time events like the NHL Stanley Cup.

For a full week, soccer, and the U.S. men's national team, took center stage in within our country's sports landscape. The game was featured on national news broadcasts and on the front page of newspapers throughout the country.

I noticed a shift in the media coverage from past "big" soccer moments. There were fewer stories about what the team's accomplishments means for the future of the sport and more straight reporting, lauding the first-ever FIFA final appearance, lamenting the huge disappointment of giving up a two-goal lead and not beating Brazil for the championship.

To me, this shift represents a true measure of the development of the sport in our country. While being in the final was a remarkable achievement -- countries with great soccer tradition like Spain, Colombia, Russia and Portugal have never played in a final of a FIFA senior national team tournament -- we have reached the point where just playing in a final is not enough. We believed we could win. And when we didn't, we all felt the pain and disappointment.

Regardless of the outcome, I believe the incredible focus on the sport, our players and our competitive play in the final and victory over top-ranked Spain represented a great moment for soccer in the United States.

All of us at Major League Soccer congratulate Bob Bradley and the entire team for their inspiring run to the Confederations Cup final, and we wish them continued success in the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup, and throughout the remaining World Cup Qualifying matches.

There is a direct link between the success of the national team and Major League Soccer. Of the 23 players on the U.S. roster for Confederations Cup, 15 play or have played in MLS. In Sunday's final against Brazil, and in the semifinal match against Spain, nine of the 14 players who saw action for the U.S. in each game were current or former MLS players.

When evaluating success at the national team level, it is important to note that since the FIFA World Cup began in 1930, only 11 different nations have ever reached the final, and only seven have won it. This is a reminder of just how hard it is to win the World Cup. In chronological order of their first World Cup title, the winners are: Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina and France.

All seven countries are in South America or Europe. In all seven countries, professional soccer has been ingrained in the culture since the early 1900s. And at the time each nation won its first World Cup, it could be argued that each had one of the top pro soccer leagues in the world.
It is logical to conclude that a nation must have a quality domestic league before it can win the World Cup.

One column I read earlier this week was from the Philadelphia Daily News' John Smallwood, who noted that most of Brazil's players are starters for the best clubs in Europe. Smallwood believes that the United States needs more national team players starting at that level. However, I also read many articles that stated that the LA Galaxy's Landon Donovan, someone who has played nearly his entire career in MLS, was the USA's best field player at the Confederations Cup. Landon certainly proved he could be a significant contributor for any team in the world.

The number of U.S. players competing abroad continues to increase, and that path produces positive results for some players while at times playing abroad does not expedite a player's development.

While Smallwood presents some valid points in his column and many soccer fans would agree with his opinion that more Americans need to play abroad, all of us at MLS are focused on growing the League so it reaches a level comparable with Europe's top leagues and clubs. The goal remains for MLS to become one of the world's great soccer leagues. And when we achieve this goal, U.S. players will not have to look abroad for the opportunity to play at the highest level. This may seem incredibly ambitious but everyone associated with the League believes that in time, this vision can be realized. When you think about how far we have come in just 14 years -- from the improved quality of play to the creation of soccer-specific stadiums and the development of an emerging and authentic soccer culture in many of our local club markets -- it is not far-fetched to think about where we can be in the generations to come.

We talk regularly about the evolution of a Soccer Nation in the United States. We collectively rose as a Soccer Nation last week. And we have countless more opportunities to do so this summer and in the year ahead leading to the World Cup in South Africa.

It is fitting that this Saturday -- Independence Day -- the first game in the U.S. team's defense of its Gold Cup crown, along with six MLS games, provides the perfect settings for soccer fans throughout the United States to celebrate their "club and country." The Gold Cup Final on July 26 and the MLS All-Star Game on July 29 are two additional opportunities to continue to celebrate the game in this country.

So get together with your fellow soccer supporters or share your love for the sport with someone new to the game, and do your part to help build a new Soccer Nation in the United States.