Argentinian Lionel Messi, who has decided to join Inter Miami, is the latest in a long line of great players who have chosen the North American championship (MLS) to enjoy a golden pre-retirement. A new big blow for the American football championship which had already succeeded in bringing in other big names before such as Franz Beckenbaueur, Pelé, or even more recently Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The pionneers
Pelé, the “Kaiser” Franz Beckenbauer, George Best, Eusebio, Johan Cruijff or Gerd Müller were among the first stars to have cleared the ground in a country with a non-existent football culture by joining the North American Soccer League (NASL), created in 1968 and ancestor of the current MLS. It was in 1975 that King Pelé arrived in New York to wear the Cosmos jersey for two seasons.
The Brazilian shines the spotlight on this exotic championship which he won in 1977, scoring 66 goals in 107 matches before retiring for good after a disputed meeting at Giants Stadium in New York between Cosmos and Santos, his training club, in front of 75,000 spectators.
The star
By signing in 2007 for the Los Angeles Galaxy from Real Madrid, David Beckham will completely revive the appeal of “soccer” in the United States. The MLS took over from the NASL in 1996 in the wake of a perfectly successful World Cup on American soil but only attracts stars at the end of the cycle like Carlos Valderrama.
The “Spice Boy” comes to bring a good touch of glamor to a championship hitherto confidential. In California, the Englishman won two titles and became THE face of MLS, with a statue even erected in his likeness in front of the Galaxy stadium.
The Frenchy
After Beckham, it is Thierry Henry who acts as the head of the gondola for MLS. The world and European champion opted for the New York Red Bulls after the fiasco of the Blues at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, like his former team-mate Youri Djorkaeff (2005-2006) before him.
From a sporting point of view, the bet is mixed since “Titi” will never know the joys of a trophy in the United States in four years of presence. Another Frenchman, also winner of a World Cup, in 2018 in Russia, will follow in his footsteps since Blaise Matuidi ended his career in MLS, at Inter Miami, in 2022.
the acrobat
Zlatan Ibrahimovic follows in Beckham’s footsteps and joins the LA Galaxy in 2018 at the age of 36, succeeding Steven Gerrard (2015-2016) as club star. Like everywhere he went, the Swede leaves no one indifferent with his personality, his punchlines and his spectacular goals. But he is leaving after two years, returning to Europe, to AC Milan, in 2020.
The technicians
To compete with the Red Bulls, a new franchise was founded in New York which began in MLS in 2015. New York City FC, created by the owners of Manchester City, bet on two of the most brilliant European technicians, the Italian Andrea Pirlo, world champion in 2006, and the Spaniard David Villa, winner of the World Cup (2010) and the Euro (2008), reinforced by the English midfielder Frank Lampard. Frenchman Patrick Vieira even became its coach in 2016 but left after two seasons.
Another artist attracted by the MLS, the Brazilian Kaka. The 2002 world champion ended his career there after three seasons in Orlando City (2014-2017). As for the Ivorian Didier Drogba, ex-gunner of Chelsea, he landed at the Montreal Impact in 2015 before evolving in the second division with Phoenix.
The faithful
For Wayne Rooney, America has become a second home. The child of Liverpool, trained at Everton before shining at Manchester United (2004-2017), evolved there as a player, at DC United (2018-2020), before becoming the coach of the Washington franchise since 2022 after a trip to Derby County (2019-2022) as a player-coach.