The advent of a new MLS franchise based in New York, backed by the combined billions of Manchester City and the Yankees baseball team, would appear to herald a new dawn for soccer in the United States.
New York City FC have set about their early transfer business with great tenacity by sealing the signatures of world stars David Villa and Frank Lampard already, with another six months remaining before pre-season training begins for the 2015 campaign in America. Furthermore, the promise of more to follow shortly has soccer fans across the five boroughs salivating at the prospect of witnessing such big names in action on their own turf.
Additionally, former USA international and current NYCFC Sporting Director Claudio Reyna has secured deals for three home-grown players in the form of goalkeeper Josh Saunders (an American-born Puerto Rican international), midfielder Andrew Jacobson and defender Jeb Brovsky, thus giving the club a pretty handy five-a-side team!
Frantic work behind the scenes will ensure a strong squad is assembled in time for the March 2015 kick-off of the new campaign, when the Bronx-based side make their bow as the 20th franchise competing in the ever-expanding MLS.
An astonishing 109,000 tickets sold out in less than 24 hours for a prestige friendly in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is due to take place later today between European powerhouses Real Madrid and Manchester United as further evidence of the burgeoning popularity of soccer in a country that seemingly delighted in witnessing the US national side’s exploits during the World Cup this summer.
Fan parks were filled to the brim with supporters willing their team on to success throughout Brazil 2014 and those people - whether new to the sport or established fans - represent a huge target audience pool for the administrators of football in the States to exploit. Add to that the obvious strategy of many top teams from around the globe to claim their own piece of the pie from an emerging market and you have an apparently winning formula for the longevity of the US league.
An ideal opportunity afforded over the last few years to those interested in the game has been the chance to get up-close and personal with the biggest names with friendly matches held across the nation, which will only serve to fuel their passion for football.
Those observers who point out that it’s still foreign footballers in the twilight of their careers joining up with MLS outfits have a point to some extent. However, in the cases of David Villa and Frank Lampard, they both had myriad options elsewhere to continue featuring in what most would deem to be top competitions in Europe and instead settled upon a move to the Big Apple.
There is something special in the process of creation within the country and there is little doubt in my mind that we’ll see a US men’s national side reach the latter stages of a World Cup tournament in the not-too-distant future.
Twitter: @davewh1980
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