steps

When it seemed that the soccer business had not yet exploded, the US dollars showed that it had already exploded. That happened in the 70s with the NASL (North American Soccer League). King Pele he invented the business linked to the figure of a player. He enjoyed it while he was in Brazil for almost two decades at Santos, and he reconfirmed it when he finished his career in North American soccer, which was trying to reinvent the local league, in a sport that was in fourth place in popularity in that country. Behind Pelé, they arrived Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff, among the most exalted names of the world elite of the moment. The arrival of the number one of the 21st century, Lionel Messiresembles that moment, beyond the growth of MLS itself.

Pelé played two seasons in the New York Cosmosa club club founded in 1971 by businessmen linked to the music industry, and later withdrew. pelvis builderAfter playing 14 years at Bayern Munich, he spent four seasons at the Cosmos, returned to his country, spent two years at Hamburg and returned to the United States to retire at the Cosmos. Instead, Cruyff spent three seasonsone in Los Angeles Aztecs and two at Washington Diplomatsbut he finished his career in his country, first at Ajax and then at Feyenoord.

The figures that were handled in the 70s are derisory with those of today. Pelé arrived at the Cosmos with the pass in his possession and arranged for four and a half million dollars. Messi arranged for 50 million dollars for two years. Pelé told in his biography why he decided to go play in a league that had no world weight, perhaps currently comparable to the Arabian League, which tempts soccer players with its petrodollars. “I remember as if it was today that he (Clive Toye, the British journalist who later became the general manager of the Cosmos) came home. He was sweating profusely. He was pale, it looked like he was going to faint. I felt something was up and made a joke: ‘How many millions do we still have?’ And I almost had to call the doctor following his response: ‘Look, you, it’s complicated’… ”, remembered Pelé. In 1975 and at the age of 34, the Brazilian earned $45,000 per month.

In addition to Pelé, Beckenbauer and Cruyff, two other players who won the European Ballon d’Or also played in that league: the Portuguese Eusebio and the German Gerd Müller. In addition, the English Bobby Moore (Seattle Sounders) and Gordon Banks (Cleveland Stokers), the Hungarian Ladislao Kubala (Toronto Falcons), the Poles Zmuda (Cosmos) and Deyna (San Diego Sockers), passed through the NSAL. The Peruvian Teófilo Cubillas (Fort Lauderdale Strikers), The Dutch Neeskens (Cosmos) and Rensenbrink (Portland Timbers) and the Brazilians Vava (San Diego Toros) and Carlos Alberto (Cosmos) The NASL dissolved in 1984 while the current MLS was created in December 1993, almost a decade later. On December 17 it will be 30 years since its launch and will have the number one playing in a league that has grown and is sustained by long-term projects.

Who are the Argentines who left their mark on the MLS

Lionel Messi will not be the first Argentine to dispute it, but he will be the most important. Although in the review of the most successful the names of Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Diego Valeri, Ignacio Piatti, Valentín Castellanos and Christian Gómezthe first to arrive was Diego Soñora, whose two sons, Joel (1996) and Alan (1998), were born in the United States while Chiche played for Dallas FC (1996-97) and Metro Stars (1998). He later acted in DC United (1999) and Tamba Bay (2001).

At Inter Miami they already played Gonzalo and Federico HiguainMatías Pellegrini, Nico Figal, Julián Carranza and Leandro González Pirez, while Franco Negri, Nicolás Stefanelli and Benjamín Cremaschi are currently part of the squad, as well as interim coach Javier Morales, former Arsenal.

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