Like a Phoenix Rising
It’s a collector’s item now, that Sports Illustrated issue of 21 years ago.
Why? Because, it was the first time, to the best of anyone’s recollection, that the magazine had featured soccer on its cover.
The player, not surprisingly, was Pele, who had just signed a $5-million contract to play for the New York Cosmos of the struggling North American Soccer League.
And there he was, on the cover. The wording said simply: “Pele’s Triumphant Debut” and “U.S. Soccer Finds a Savior.”
The cover date was June 23, 1975.
Two weeks earlier, out in California, Eric Wynalda had just celebrated his fourth birthday.
Pele will not be in San Jose on Saturday evening when Major League Soccer begins its inaugural season. But Wynalda will.
And therein lies the difference between MLS and the NASL, which flourished for a few years after Pele’s arrival and then sank into oblivion.
Wynalda, the former San Diego State striker who in January became the U.S. national team’s all-time leading goal scorer, will take the field Saturday at 5 p.m. for the San Jose Clash, one of 10 MLS teams.
Opposing the Clash will be Washington, D.C., United, whose midfield features one of Wynalda’s U.S teammates, John Harkes. As a youngster growing up in Kearney, N.J., Harkes and his pals, midfielder Tab Ramos and goalkeeper Tony Meola, used to go to Giants Stadium, drawn there by--who else?--Pele.
And so it comes full circle.
The NASL imported foreign stars by the dozen and, for a while, attracted crowds of 70,000-plus. Then, almost inexplicably, it withered and died. But its legacy lives on in MLS. For instance:
--Alan Rothenberg, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation and chairman of MLS, was once a part owner of the NASL’s Los Angeles Aztecs.
--Eight of the 10 MLS coaches played or coached in the NASL. The only exceptions are D.C. United Coach Bruce Arena, who is also coach of the U.S. Olympic team, and New England Revolution Coach Frank Stapleton.
--Lamar Hunt, owner of the league’s Columbus and Kansas City franchises, used to own the NASL’s Dallas Tornado.
--Surprisingly, considering the time that has passed, there are even player connections to the old league.
Mexican midfielder-forward Hugo Sanchez, now with the Dallas Burn, played for Newman with the NASL’s San Diego Sockers as a teenager before going on to fame and fortune with Real Madrid, where he was the Spanish League’s leading scorer five times. And forward Roy Wegerle of the Colorado Rapids was NASL rookie of the year in 1984 while with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
MLS roots go deep into the NASL, but comparisons between the leagues, Rothenberg said, are misleading.
“That was a foreign-dominated league,” he said. “So while you had some superstars like Pele and [Franz] Beckenbauer and [Johan] Cruyff, below that you had almost no Americans and you had a bunch of foreign players that the American public didn’t relate to.
“You had mercenaries. They were either on loan or, even if they weren’t on loan, they were here just for the summer and then they were gone, so you couldn’t build any kind of community spirit.”
MLS has taken a different tack. More than 75% of the league’s players are American and include most of the members of the current U.S. national and Olympic teams.
The league seeks both economic and competitive balance through a salary cap of $1.13 million per team and the equal distribution of top U.S. and foreign players among the 10 teams.
In NASL days, there was the Cosmos and then there were the rest. It was one of the reasons the league failed.
“I’m sure over the course of the season some [MLS] teams are going to gel better than others and some coaches are going to be smarter than others,” Rothenberg said. “But at least to start with, there’s a real competitive balance.
“The economics are such that if it gets out of balance it won’t be because of dollars and cents, it’ll be because somebody’s smarter than somebody else and somebody’s better than somebody else.”
At least that’s the theory. Already, there are rumblings of discontent about some teams being more equal than others.
But, these doubts aside, there are reasons MLS could succeed where the NASL failed.
“The biggest difference between now and then is that 20 years have passed and there’s a foundation to support soccer in this country that wasn’t there before,” Rothenberg said.
“All those kids who started playing, probably turned on by Pele and the whole NASL, those people are young business professionals now and they’re raising their own families. They know the sport. They’re going to take their kids to the games and they’re going to want to go to the games themselves.
“Before, you didn’t have that. You had some European ethnics, by and large, and they wanted to see [George] Best, they wanted to see Pele and Beckenbauer and after that they didn’t care.
“And there weren’t as many Latins. I mean, the huge influx from Latin America has really been in the last 15 years, so now you’ve got 30 million Hispanics in this country who weren’t here 20 years ago.”
Which is why in its search for foreign talent to play alongside the Americans, MLS concentrated much of its effort in Central and South America.
The result was the signing of such “name” players as Mexico’s Jorge Campos, Colombia’s Carlos Valderrama and Leonel Alvarez, Bolivia’s Marco Etcheverry, El Salvador’s Raul Diaz Arce and Mauricio Cienfuegos, Uruguay’s Adrian Paz, Ecuador’s Eduardo Hurtado and Guatemala’s Jorge Rodas.
MLS also turned to Africa for talent, signing a few stars and up-and-coming players from South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, Morocco and Zimbabwe.
The best European player acquired was two-time World Cup veteran Roberto Donadoni of Italy by--ominously--New York/New Jersey.
But the American players will make or break MLS.
Which is where the World Cup comes into the equation. Had the United States not qualified for the 1990 tournament in Italy and staged World Cup ‘94, it is likely MLS would not exist.
“Not a chance,” Rothenberg agreed. “FIFA [world soccer’s governing body] had it right from the beginning. Give the United States the World Cup and, based on that, get a pro league going.
“There’s no question we would never have gotten this off the ground without the World Cup.”
The tournament two years ago accomplished two things: It showed potential investors and sponsors that soccer could be a viable product in the United States and it made recognizable names of America’s leading players.
How else, for example, could Alexi Lalas be appearing on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno tonight, the same month he is featured on the cover of London’s “World Soccer” magazine?
How else could Wynalda, Harkes, Ramos, Cobi Jones, Marcelo Balboa, Paul Caligiuri and other U.S. national team players be commanding top dollar in MLS?
But will the public support what is generally acknowledged as professional soccer’s last great hope in the United States? Will fans demand the international superstars the league can’t afford or will they accept a level of play below the best?
On such questions hangs the fate of MLS.
“Coming out of the box, we’re not going to be the Italian Serie A league or the German Bundesliga or the Spanish first division or the English Premier League,” Rothenberg acknowledged.
“But will we be in there right below that level? Yeah, I think we’ll be as good as the Mexican first division, as good as the Dutch League. Certainly, we’re not going to be Ajax [world club champion Ajax Amsterdam], but who is?”
Rothenberg said the league’s decision to delay its launch from the spring of 1995 until now--a move widely criticized at the time--has proven correct.
“I think it brought about realistic expectations,” he said. “I think if we’d have come out of the box in the afterglow of the World Cup and started a league, people would have expected way too much.”
“I think that extra year made people stop and think, get a little more sober about it and say, ‘Hey, if we do get 10,000 to 12,000 people a game, put on a good brand of soccer and have some fun at the stadiums, that’s pretty doggone good for the first year.’ And then we build from there.”
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MLS At a Glance
Chairman: Alan I. Rothenberg.
Commissioner: Douglas G. Logan.
Principal investors: John Kluge and Stuart Subotnick; Robert Kraft, Lamar Hunt, Philip F. Anschutz, Marc Rapaport.
Major commercial affiliates: AT&T;, Anheuser-Busch, Fuji, Honda, Kellogg’s, Bandai, Adidas, Nike, Reebok, Puma.
Teams: 10, divided into two conferences, Eastern and Western.
Rosters: Teams can carry 22 players until April 15, then must cut to 18.
Regular season: 160 games between April 6-Sept. 22. Each team plays a 32-game schedule, including 16 home dates.
All-Star game: Date and place to be determined.
Playoffs: Top four teams from each conference qualify. Best-of-three quarterfinals and semifinals.
MLS championship game: Oct. 20 at Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, Mass.
Rules: 90-minute games, no overtime, no ties. A tie after regulation goes to a shootout, players alternating one-on-one against the goalkeeper from 35 yards and having five seconds to shoot.
*
* LONGEVITY: NASL 1968-1984; MLS 1996-?
* TEAMS AT PEAK: NASL 24; MLS 10.
* MARQUEE PLAYER: NASL Pele (Brazil); MLS Roberto Donadoni (Italy).
* SALARY CAP: NASL none; MLS $1.13 million per team.
* TOP ANNUAL SALARY: NASL $1.5 million (estimate); MLS $200,000 (estimate).
* TELEVISION: NASL CBS (major games); MLS ESPN, ESPN2, Univision, ABC (championship final).
* TEAM ATTENDANCE: NASL best was New York Cosmos in 1977; MLS current leader in season ticket sales is Columbus Crew with 8,921 sold as of March 25.
* LARGEST CROWD: NASL 77,691 (New York Cosmos vs. Fort Lauderdale Strikers, 1977); MLS 31,000 (estimated) San Jose Clash vs. Washington D.C. United, Saturday.
* MAXIMUM NUMBER OF FOREIGN PLAYERS ON FIELD (PER TEAM): NASL 10; MLS 3.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
WESTERN CONFERENCE
COLORADO RAPIDS
Stadium: Mile High, Denver.
MLS capacity: 17,500.
Field size: 74 x 116 yards.
Principal owner: Philip F. Anschutz.
Coach: Bob Houghton.
Top American players: Marcelo Balboa, Dominic Kinnear, Roy Wegerle, Chris Henderson, Jean Harbor.
Top foreign players: Shaun Bartlett, South Africa; Khalil Azmi, Morocco.
*
DALLAS BURN
Stadium: Cotton Bowl.
MLS capacity: 25,425.
Field size: 74 x 116 yards.
Principal owner: MLS.
Coach: Dave Dir.
Top American players: Mark Dodd, Jeff Cassar, John Kerr Jr., Brandon Pollard, Mark Santel.
Top foreign players: Hugo Sanchez, Mexico; Leonel Alvarez, Colombia; Washington Rodriguez, Uruguay.
*
KANSAS CITY WIZ
Stadium: Arrowhead.
MLS capacity: 30,554.
Field size: 69 x 110 yards.
Principal owner: Lamar Hunt.
Coach: Ron Newman.
Top American players: Mark Chung, Eric Eichmann, Frank Klopas, Matt McKeon, Chris Snitko, Mike Sorber.
Top foreign players: Samuel Ekeme, Cameroon; Uche Okafor, Nigeria; Preki, Yugoslavia; Vitalis Takawira, Zimbabwe.
*
LOS ANGELES GALAXY
Stadium: Rose Bowl.
MLS capacity: 28,000.
Field size: 72 x 110 yards.
Principal owner: Marc Rapaport.
Coach: Lothar Osiander
Top American players: Dan Calichman, Robin Fraser, Cobi Jones.
Top foreign players: Jorge Campos, Mexico; Mauricio Cienguegos, El Salvador; Eduardo Hurtado, Ecuador.
*
SAN JOSE CLASH
Stadium: Spartan.
MLS capacity: 19,166.
Field size: 63 x 106 yards.
Principal owner: MLS.
Coach: Laurie Calloway.
Top American players: Troy Dayak, John Doyle, Eric Wynalda.
Top foreign players: Victor Mella, Chile; Michael Emenalo, Nigeria; Ben Iroha, Nigeria; Jorge Rodas, Guatemala.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
COLUMBUS CREW
Stadium: Ohio.
MLS capacity: 25,134.
Field size: 62 x 106 yards.
Principal owner: Lamar Hunt.
Coach: Timo Liekoski.
Top American players: Brian Bliss, Paul Caligiuri, Brian Maisonneuve, Brian McBride, Janusz Michallik, Billy Thompson.
Top foreign players: Doctor Khumalo, South Africa; Adrian Paz, Uruguay.
*
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
Stadium: Foxboro.
MLS capacity: 22,385.
Field size: 72 x 116 yards.
Principal owner: Robert Kraft.
Coach: Frank Stapleton.
Top American players: Imad Baba, Mike Burns, Jim St. Andre, Alexi Lalas, Peter Woodring.
Top foreign players: Geoff Anger, Canada; Giuseppe Galderisi, Italy; Alberto Naveda, Argentina; Bojan Vukovic, Yugoslavia; Welton, Brazil.
*
NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY METROSTARS
Stadium: Giants.
MLS capacity: 25,576.
Field size: 66 x 116 yards.
Principal owners: John Kluge and Suart Subotnick.
Coach: Eddie Firmani.
Top American players: Tony Meola, Tab Ramos, Damian Silvera, Peter Vermes.
Top foreign players: Nicola Caricola, Italy; Roberto Donadoni, Italy.
*
TAMPA BAY MUTINY
Stadium: Tampa.
MLS capacity: 16,000.
Field size: 68 x 116 yards.
Principal owner: MLS.
Coach: Thomas Rongen.
Top American players: Mark Dougherty, Frankie Hejduk, Kle Kooiman, Roy Lassiter, Nelson Vargas, Martin Vasquez.
Top foreign players: Carlos Valderrama, Colombia; Evans Wise, Trinidad; Frank Yallop, Canada.
*
WASHINGTON D.C. UNITED
Stadium: Robert F. Kennedy.
MLS capacity: 23,865.
Field size: 72 x 110 yards.
Principal owner: API Soccer.
Coach: Bruce Arena.
Top American players: Jeff Agoos, Jeff Causey, John Harkes, Mike Huwiler.
Top foreign players: Raul Diaz Arce, El Salvador; Marco Etcheverry, Bolivia; Said Fazlagic, Bosnia; Mario Gori, Agentina; Juan Berthy Suarez, Bolivia.
