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Some years ago many experts said that the future of football was in Africa.
The emergence of players such as George Weah, Didier Drogba, Emmanuel Adebayor and Samuel Eto’o, in addition to great sporting results achieved by African national teams (Nigeria taking Olympic gold at Atlanta ’96, the seventh placing of Senegal in the 2002 World Cup 2002) seems to confirm this idea.
But we can not ignore the fact that the African continent as a whole still lacks a football infrastructure that supports the aspirations of these great players. None of the African leagues is among the most important in the world.
Perhaps the biggest problem that African national teams have faced throughout history is the leakage of players who choose to represent European teams, where the prospects of winning the World Cup are much higher.
Given these facts, maybe we should consider seeking the future of the sport in other destinations – specifically, in the USA.
With a highly professional league that is growing every year, an infrastructure worthy of the best European tournaments and many major players playing there, the land of Uncle Sam is shown to the world as the possible heir to the sceptre of football.
I don’t mean that at the next World Cup, the Yankee team will rise with the trophy. But I can assure you that in the coming years the United States will be among the most important teams in the world.
Let’s review a little of the history. Until the early ’90s soccer didn’t have a noticeable impact, except in the ’70s when Pele arrived to play for the New York Cosmos. But that passion for football did not last long.
The interest in soccer waned to the point that FIFA, in the year before the 1994 World Cup, demanded that the United States organise a new professional football league if they wanted to be the host of the competition.
The MLS (Major League Soccer), which had its first season in 1996, amended its rules in order to ‘Americanise’ the game. But over the years, these modifications were neglected and the league opted for the standard FIFA rules.
Gone are those days where playing against the United States represented little more than a practice for the big national teams.
Now American players not only have a presence in many European leagues, but foreign stars like Nesta, Beckham, Di Vaio, Keane, Cahill and Henry have chosen to pursue careers in the MLS, giving young players the opportunity to gain the experience of facing great figures.
Perhaps there are those who still consider the MLS as an ‘elephant graveyard’ where the big players see their careers die but this, far from being a negative, is something that has promoted the league.
Football is still not the most important sport in the country but its popularity grows with every goal scored.
The USA is currently the most important team in CONCACAF, relegating Mexico who were the best team in the northern hemisphere of America for several decades.
Maybe it’s just a crazy idea, but the USA and their league may be the mirror in which Australia should look.
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