Daily Mail - 27.08.2019

67
Daily Mail, Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Football

IS BOOMING

Rooney may be quitting the

States but make no mistake...

O

FFICIALLY, it’s

called a water fea-

ture. On the upper

deck of the 22,000-

seater Banc of

California Stadium, behind

the posh seats and ornate

tables, a 17-inch deep body

of water overlooks the

streets of Los Angeles.

Another inch, and it would be

classed a swimming pool and

require a lifeguard. For now, fans

can pay to take a splash unsuper-

vised, as the action unfolds

below.

It’s less than five years since Los

Angeles FC dipped their toes in

the US football market. Built

from scratch, they began with no

players, no stadium and no coach.

Only a dream. Now Bob Bradley’s

side top the Western Conference.

Since their first MLS match in

March 2018, they have come to

embody a sport that has barged

its way into the American national

consciousness.

Wayne Rooney may be about to

quit MLS but he is not fleeing a

sinking ship. Rather, the sport

here is booming. Crowds are

growing, the standard is improv-

ing and the money involved is

rocketing.

Now, 23 years after the founding

of Major League Soccer, football

is the joint-second most popular

sport among Americans under-

35s. It has spread its wings to

Canada, too, and soon six more

teams will join the party.

Sunday’s clash between LAFC

and LA Galaxy, and the derby

between Portland Timbers and

Seattle Sounders on Saturday

were further evidence of why

MLS’s dreams of becoming a

major player are anything but far

fetched.

And yet why there is still much

to do.

ONe hundred and six seconds.

Galaxy star Zlatan Ibrahimovic

doesn’t get paid for

overtime and on Sun-

day he wasted little

time bursting the LAFC

bubble.

Football in America

has long battled to shed

its skin, to move beyond

the mockery and become

more than a holiday desti-

nation for ageing stars look-

ing to make an easy buck.

Yet Zlatan is 37 and scores

for fun. He was statuesque

during the match on Sunday,

and not just when he

celebrated.

But few clubs illustrate

the progress made more

obviously than LAFC.

The team are a triumph

in market research.

Thanks to a fierce political-style

grassroots campaign, they have

captured the imagination of the

Los Angeles public, particularly

its Hispanic population. So much

so that they’re already outgrow-

ing this £286million ground.

The atmosphere had a strong

Latin American flavour as the

crowd sang and bounced for 90

minutes, their vision hampered

by flares and luchador masks.

And the presence of Hollywood

celebrities, including Natalie

Portman and Kevin Costner,

showed how football is breaking

through in a city and a country

rich with sporting competition.

Yet within 15 minutes, Ibrah-

movic had scored his seventh and

eighth goals in five El Trafico

meetings.

Twice the Swedish striker took

advantage of shoddy defending.

Twice he stretched out his arms in

front of the North end.

It was a powerful image. MLS

hopes to surpass the country’s

traditional sporting institutions

of baseball, basketball, hockey

and American football, and the

league have targeted a different

demographic — diverse, urban,

young and loud.

Nowhere is that seen more

clearly than in the North end,

which holds the LAFC hardcore

supporters. Against a backdrop of

black and gold, flags from Brazil,

Mexico, and el Salvador wave

alongside the Stars and Stripes.

And on the hour, it was their dar-

ling, former Arsenal striker Carlos

Vela, who scored the equaliser in a

3-3 draw.

The thunderous atmosphere

had bubbled since mid-morning

and didn’t relent until full-time.

The crowds here are far more

inclusive, with women leading the

chants in the North end, where

the rainbow flag flew proudly. But

the carnival does occasionally

stop.

Two days earlier, Portland and

Seattle made a rather quieter

statement. For more than half an

hour, a hush hung over Provi-

dence Park like dense fog as one

of America’s fiercest derbies

morphed into a silent protest.

Supported by their clubs, fans

were fighting for their right to

display an anti-fascist symbol.

MLS have banned political sig-

nage, so supporters decided: if

they want to keep us quiet, let

them see how silence feels.

The two fan groups, divided by

years of bad blood, came together

to make a stand during a game

against their biggest rivals. The

affair won’t feature in many MLS

marketing booklets, but it was a

powerful demonstration of foot-

ball culture in the US. This week’s

north London derby is unlikely to

feature such solidarity.

Portland and Seattle’s protest

was a wider illustration of how

much this sport matters now.

Just ask Timber Joey, the lum-

berjack team mascot who for

more than a decade has stood

pitchside with his chainsaw, cut-

ting a giant log to mark every goal

and clean sheet.

He was on his way to the UK to

play rugby when injury curtailed

his career. Now he’s part of the

fabric in one of America’s proud-

est football towns. They call Port-

land ‘Soccer City USA’, but

increasingly, in LA and other cor-

ners of this vast nation, support-

ers are engaged, the league is

taken seriously, and football can

be a vehicle for difference.

Among the victorious Sounders

squad was Brad Smith, formerly

of Liverpool and on loan from

Bournemouth. eddie Howe was

apparently shocked when told the

defender was considering a move

across the Atlantic. But Smith, 25,

has swapped the 11,000-capacity

Vitality for Seattle’s

72,000-seater Centu-

ryLink Field. Step down?

It doesn’t feel like it.

Smith claims a number

of players have con-

tacted him about mak-

ing the same step. But

while they await the

arrival of more players

from europe, clubs in MLS

have to be inventive.

Unable to compete with

the worldwide power-

houses, they have

turned to the South

American market.

Many clubs lack the

quality and depth of

their counterparts else-

where, but smart trans-

fer business has improved

the standard and made this

the most diverse league in the

world.

Mexico’s Vela is proof that play-

ers can make their reputation in

Major League Soccer, not just

risk tarnishing them. He shared

the spoils with Ibrahimovic, who

aside from his goals, virtually

stood still for 90 minutes.

Nevertheless the sport in Amer-

ica is changing around him — and

only heading one way.

LAFC may still live in the

shadow of the LA Rams, whose

temporary home, the 77,000-

seater Coliseum, stands next

door in a fitting illustration of

how the NFL still dwarfs its rivals.

But with every water feature and

every passing year, football edges

closer to victory in battles at

home and abroad.

In the North end, in Portland,

and elsewhere, football in Amer-

ica is making noise. even when its

fans stay silent.

DANIEL

MATTHEWS

in Los Angeles

SPECIAL REPORT

A cut above: Timber Joey —

Portland’s lumberjack

mascot — gets to work

GETTY IMAGES

Football 67

n AVERAGE MLS attendance

22,000 — up 40 per cent

during the past 10 years.

n SIX more teams will join

the league to make it

30-strong — the biggest top

flight league in the world.

n AVERAGE MLS club now

valued at £182m. League-

wide valuations have nearly

doubled in past five years, up

400 per cent since 2008.

n SOCCER ranks second (tied

with basketball) in popularity

as a spectator sport among

fans aged 18-34, behind only

American football.

n DURING the past decade,

soccer’s popularity in the US

has tripled and the sport has

seen similar growth in

Canada.

n MLS clubs are home to

players born in 75 countries,

making MLS the most diverse

sports league in the world.

IT’S NO LONGER

LITTLE LEAGUE

Hollywood

ending:

Ibrahimovic

celebrates

against his

LA rivals AP

v1