Messi Mania is fading. World Cup is coming. What does U.S. soccer do next?
That MLS and Inter Miami CF allowed its version of the Hope Diamond out of its vault to play a game of soccer under such messy conditions speaks so highly of Messi.
(You are free to throw something after reading a pun so horrid that Carrie from “Sex and the City” would hate it.)
On Monday evening at the Cotton Bowl, in what looked like a horror movie setting, the world’s most famous soccer player made his second appearance in our the greater tri-state/region/metro area since August.
Inter Miami CF’s “friendly” match against FC Dallas in the rain, fog and cold wasn’t quite the same as the last time these teams played, in the first week of August in Frisco in the Leagues Cup when Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccitini made his debut here.
That night was the finest in the history of FC Dallas, and for soccer in this region since we had the World Cup in 1994. It was hotter than the center of the earth, the entire evening was a transcendent summer party.
Even if you believe there is no such thing as futbol, or the beautiful game is an ugly pig, that evening was a tractor beam of fun.
Monday night’s match, FC Dallas’ first at the Cotton Bowl since 2009, felt more like a great reason to run inside and jump inside a fire. Props and respect to the 32,000 or so fans who called the Grim Reaper’s bluff and made it here to watch a warmup to the 2024 MLS season.
Messi played about 64 minutes, and had a few nice touches. He nearly scored on a corner kick.
Basically, this was a workout at the gym, in miserable weather.
When he walked off the pitch the crowd did it best to make whatever noise it could throw gloves and scarves. When he walked up the tunnel, with about two minutes remaining in the match, the masses moved towards his direction like a swarm of insects with cell phones.
There is no comp’ in sports like Messi right now; his best comp’ remains Taylor Swift.
The challenge for MLS, and soccer in this country, is not only how to sustain Messi Mania, but to build on it.
How does MLS do that? MLS cannot build a Messi. It’s debatable that God built Messi.
The arrival of the World Cup to North America in 2026 will be a wonderful re-launch to the momentum his arrival has generated, but what MLS needs to do is to buy another Messi.
“It’s meant a lot; it’s been a key, so helpful,” FC Dallas forward Paul Arriola said, after his team’s 1-0 win, of Messi’s arrival to the league. “You see it in the amount of reporters here. It’s very unusual to see other people have that effect.”
In MLS, no one does.
The next step for this league will be to “buy” a player of Messi’s caliber, when he is in his prime years.
When Messi came here last year, he was 36. While he’s still a great player, 36 isn’t 26.
Not long after Messi landed in Miami last year, and his arrival created a shock of interest to MLS that it had never previously enjoyed, there were rumors that “another one” was coming.
It was one of those unfounded Internet “reports” that seemingly auto-populate, but the idea of French footballer Mbappé coming to the U.S. had legs because of Messi.
The draws are endorsement deals, the chance to live in an America where the player may enjoy a level of privacy they can’t in Europe.
Ultimately, there was nothing to the rumor that Kylian Mbappé was coming to America, but that is a goal.
To now bring a player like that, who is only 25 years old, over to one of MLS’ 29 franchises in North America, probably New York or Los Angeles.
Messi sells tickets, jerseys, kits, and drives subscription to MLS broadcast partner Apple TV. An Mbappé legitimizes the MLS name beyond that of a lower-level pro league that is great for older star players who don’t quite want to retire yet while living in relative obscurity in the U.S.
Before the match on Monday night, FC Dallas President Dan Hunt made a point to say that his club, if possible, would like to make a Messi-like addition. They’re ready to do it. They want to do it.
Because of the MLS’ hard salary cap, adding a player of the all-global caliber will require fancy contracting, but it is doable.
“We have a lot of good players who are coming,” FC Dallas manager Nico Estévez said. “What I have seen from Europe, and I have had different visits from different clubs in the Premier League (in England) and La Liga (Italy), they have scouts watching MLS.
“MLS is another important league that they watch. They know MLS has huge potential.”
That potential is because of America and 331 million people who live here. And corporate partners who can’t wait to blow money on pro sports. And, gambling.
Soccer’s evolution in the U.S. from kids’ rec sport to viable pro league was inevitable. It also takes time.
Messi changes things.
His presence here in the U.S. and with MLS is great, but we need another one. A younger one.
And you can’t make him. You have to buy him.
This story was originally published January 22, 2024 at 8:15 PM.
