MLS on the rise?

DC United has recently hired the services of Argentine, Marcelo “El Muñeco” Gallardo. I find this move to be very interesting, not only do I believe Gallardo to be a very good player but I think this is the latest in the line of interesting acquisitions for the MLS. Last year we saw all the hype about Beckham, who may or may not be overrated but still is in a class that nobody in the MLS is very near.

Beckham must finally prove himself the season, to be worth the enormous amount of money spent on him. But I find a couple other things interesting, last year we also saw the advent of more South American players, and younger ones at that. It seemed that before the MLS was a retirement home for some international stars, but now they have seemingly opted for a younger breed of players that add to the competitiveness of this league.  The addition of Juan Pablo Angel to the Red Bulls last season really surprised me, and I believe him to be an amazing signing, which many other leagues in the America’s would have dreamed of. The caliber of foreign players is rising I believe, albeit slowly, with Angel, Gallardo, Beckham, Xavier. The internationalization is occurring, and a couple of teams seem to be gaining their own personality and fan base, which is essential for any league.

The MLS has also created the Superliga along with Mexico, and the Pan Pacific Championship with Japan and Australia. It is an interesting experiment which may or may not work but is a good effort to give their players more international experience. I believe interesting things are happening in the MLS it is just a question of them being able to rally up enough fan support to justify it, and this season may provide some answers. 

New Mexican National Team Unveiled

The Mexican side that will face the US on February 6th, has just been unveiled by the National Team coach, and has a couple of surprises for the Mexican public. The call-ups of Antonio de Nigris (Ankaraspor) and Antonio Naelson (Sinha), are the surprises to me. 

Although there had been some expectation regarding de Nigris, given his goal scoring ways in the far away Turkey and his relationship with Hugo Sanchez. It seems to me that this is his golden chance to make a claim to a spot on the 2010 World Cup Squad. De Nigris has turned into an interesting player in my eyes, presenting much life experience, international experience, and has generally had to work hard in order no to disappear completely. He is has taken an unexpected path, but I think he may just have the right type of attitude on the personal side to contribute a lot to the national team, I will be awaiting a gritty and gutsy performance from him, if he shows any talent I would consider it a bonus. 

On the Sinha situation I think it shows something about Hugo Sanchez, given his extense criticism on Ricardo Antonio Lavolpe, for calling him and Guillermo Franco to the past World Cup team. I think that this shows that Sanchez just tried to gain public support by appealing to a very populist and nationalist side of the Mexican public. They have always been talented players yet and Hugo knows this, but he just catered to his own interests instead of contributing to create a more positive environment for the team in the past World Cup.The list is the following:

Goalkeepers

Guillermo Ochoa (América); Luis Ernesto Michel (Guadalajara); Moisés Muñoz (Monarcas).

 

Defenders

 

Israel Castro (Pumas) ; Rafael Márquez (Barcelona) ; Carlos Salcido (PSV), Jonny Magallón (Guadalajara) ; Fauto Pinto (Pachuca) ; y Óscar Rojas (América).

 

Midfielders:

 

Fernando Arce (Santos); Pável Pardo (Stuttgart); Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul); Andrés Guardado (Deportivo La Coruña); Giovani Dos Santos (Barcelona) y Antonio Naelson Sinha (Toluca)

 

Forwards:

 

Adolfo Bautista (Jaguares de Chiapas); Juan Carlos Cacho (Pachuca); Carlos Vela (Osasuna) y Antonio de Nigris (Ankaraspor) 

Introducing Global Soccer

The goal of this blog is to present analysis and intelligent discussion about World Soccer (Football). I am a Mexican National currently residing in South Korea, and I am a great soccer enthusiast. I will update regularly, with news and other interesting articles. Welcome!