[LuvFreeRepublic]

Thanks for you help on the correct way to write/say “goal”. Beckham is still very good and there aren't many that can “see” the game as he does when he is on the field. And no he wasn't going to come here and run up the score. He also wasn't going to ignite the American public relative to causing soccer to become America's number one sport. The popularity of the sport will continue to grow in this country, and the number that enjoy playing and watching the sport will continue to grown. Love the game. I played it for 22 years and I do miss my cleats (boots). Other than that, I can't stand Beckham’s wife (meow).

[dfwgator]

It’s going to take national team success to get soccer to the next level of popularity, and by that, I mean making it to at least the World Cup semis (We were so close in 2000, we made the final eight, and even the Germans admitted we outplayed them in the quarters). Then you’ll have US stars that are marketable names. It might not help the MLS, since most of our best players will play in Europe professionally.

Now the one thing I think could help the MLS, is opening up the UEFA Champions League to teams outside of Europe. Imagine if a MLS team is in the group stage with the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona, etc.

For any player, that is the real show, and the best players won’t play here, because it denies them the opportunity to play on professional soccer’s biggest stage. But now if you suddenly opened that up, then we could get our share of the world’s best players, and in their prime. But that scenario wouldn’t come to fruition until at least the next 10-20 years.