Major Changes Are Likely for MLS Before Next Season
Assuming that Major League Soccer’s investor-operators can agree among themselves, significant changes are in store for the league next year.
Among those that have been discussed for several weeks--and could be announced before Sunday’s MLS Cup ’99 championship game at Foxboro, Mass.:
* Dropping the shootout and accepting tie games as a final result after a yet-to-be determined overtime period.
* Realignment of the 12-team league from two conferences of six teams each to three conferences of four teams each.
* Shortening the season by as much as two months with a possible reduction in regular-season games from 32 to, perhaps, 28.
* Changing the player-distribution system to allow individual teams more flexibility in acquiring players under the league’s “single-entity” structure.
* Introduction of a fixed time slot for a marquee game to be televised each week, similar to the NFL’s “Monday Night Football,” and for a weekly MLS highlights package, also in a fixed time slot.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber is expected to announce some changes, if not all, on Friday.
MOORE THE MERRIER
Joe-Max Moore has made the right choice.
He could have kept playing in MLS, pocketed his $250,000 or so each season and not been overly concerned about much of anything.
But after four seasons with the struggling New England Revolution, the former UCLA midfielder from Irvine had had enough. It was time to get out of Boston.
Moore did so last week, agreeing to what was reported as a three-year, $800,000-a-year contract to play for Everton in England’s Premier League.
That will make Moore not only wealthier but a cross-town rival of another former Bruin and fellow U.S. national team player, Brad Friedel, the backup goalkeeper at Liverpool.
According to the Boston Globe, Moore was recommended to Everton by Richard Gough, a former Scotland national team defender who played in MLS in 1997 and ’98 for the Kansas City Wizards and San Jose Clash, respectively.
Moore scored 38 goals in 79 games for the Revolution.
MLS CUP ’99
Despite the Revolution’s continuing ability to lose both games and high-caliber players, fans in New England remain among soccer’s staunchest supporters.
As of Friday, more than 30,000 tickets had been sold for MLS Cup ‘99, the league’s championship game. The Galaxy-D.C. United match Sunday will be the second championship final at Foxboro Stadium.
In 1996, the Galaxy-Washington D.C. United final drew 34,643 in a driving rainstorm.
HAV FEZ, WILL TRAVEL
The U.S. men’s national team left Saturday for Africa, where it will play its final game of the year, against Morocco at Marrakech on Wednesday.
Coach Bruce Arena had to ignore such starters as the Galaxy’s Cobi Jones and Robin Fraser, as well as players from the Columbus Crew (Brian McBride) and D.C. United (Eddie Pope, Jeff Agoos, Ben Olsen), because of their involvement in the MLS playoffs.
“Right now, the MLS playoffs take precedence for those individuals,” Arena said.
The 16-player team he selected includes nine European-based players. It also includes two surprises from the Miami Fusion--midfielder Brian Kamler, who has never played for the U.S., and forward Eric Wynalda, who, because of injury, hasn’t played a national team game since the 1998 World Cup in France.
“It’s a great opportunity to get our team together one more time before the end of the year, and to evaluate where we are before heading into a critical year of [World Cup 2002] qualifying,” Arena said.
“Morocco is one of the best teams in the world when playing at home, so this will be an excellent opportunity for us to test ourselves.”
Morocco is the highest-ranked African country in the FIFA world rankings at No. 28. The U.S. is 22nd.
IRAN IN PASADENA
If U.S. Soccer thinks playing against Mexico at the Coliseum is the equivalent of an away game, it’s in for a surprise in Pasadena too.
The U.S. will play Iran at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 16, and unless American fans turn out in large numbers, it’s going to seem like a road game for the U.S. There are more than 500,000 Iranians living in Southern California, meaning the Rose Bowl could be a sea, not of red, white and blue, but of green and white.
Iran defeated the U.S., 2-1, in the ’98 World Cup, but the American team has improved significantly in quality and confidence since then.
The U.S. season opener for 2000, it will be televised live on ESPN.
Iran also is expected to play Mexico during its first visit to the U.S.
PORTUGAL CALLS
Three Galaxy players--Jamar Beasley, Jose Botello and Marvin Quijano--are among 20 players selected to travel to Portugal for a five-game tour as part of the U.S. Project-40 team.
Project-40 is MLS and U.S. Soccer’s development program aimed at giving young professional players increased international experience. The team, under Tampa Bay Mutiny Coach Tim Hankinson, will play its games against Portuguese first-division reserve teams Nov. 28-Dec. 17.
The U.S. players are predominantly 23 or younger and are vying for a place on the under-23 national team that next spring will try to qualify for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
The U-23 team will be in camp in San Diego Jan. 5-21 before leaving for a similar Portuguese tour Jan. 21-30.
EURO 2000
The final four nations will qualify this week for next summer’s European Championship, to be played in Belgium and the Netherlands June 10-July 2.
The 16-nation championship, second only to the World Cup in importance, already includes the two co-hosts, along with world champion France, defending champion Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Romania, Norway, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
Eight nations are vying for the four remaining berths and will play the second and deciding games of a home-and-away series Wednesday. Favored to advance after Saturday’s first-leg games are England, which defeated Scotland, 2-0, at Glasgow; Denmark, which overwhelmed Israel, 5-0, at Tel Aviv; and Turkey, which tied Ireland, 1-1, at Dublin. Slovenia upset Ukraine, 2-1, at Ljubljana, leaving Ukraine needing a victory at Kiev.
The draw for the Euro 2000 finals will be made Dec. 12.
QUICK PASSES
MLS lost another marquee player Monday when the Columbus Crew announced that it had traded 23-year-old striker Stern John to Nottingham Forest of the English first division. The transfer fee was not disclosed but the Trinidad & Tobago striker was worth an estimated $2 million, according to some English reports. He led MLS in scoring in 1998. . . . Charlie Stillitano, the New York/New Jersey MetroStars’ general manager, said a new coach to replace Bora Milutinovic might be named within two weeks.
Rebuffed in his efforts to buy Manchester United for $1 billion, Dodger owner Rupert Murdoch has instead purchased a 9.9% share in rival Manchester City for just under $19.2 million. . . . Landon Donovan of Redlands scored his first and second world championship goals as the U.S. defeated New Zealand, 2-1, and tied Poland, 1-1, in the the FIFA Under-17 World Championship at Auckland. The U.S. needs only a tie against Uruguay today to advance to the quarterfinals. . . . The defending gold medalist U.S. women’s national team will play its first-round games at the Sydney Olympics in Melbourne on Sept. 14, 17 and 20.
