In an interview with the Guardian, MLS commissioner Don Garber suggested that the Egyptian soccer executive who urged Mohamed Salah to avoid the league should watch Lionel Messi starring for Inter Miami.
Garber’s comments come after Egypt’s national team director, Ibrahim Hassan, said Salah should stay in Europe when he leaves Liverpool as MLS is “too far out of the spotlight”. Hassan later added that if Salah “does not receive offers from Europe, then a move to the Saudi league would be a good option”.
It is an opinion Garber said he hadn’t heard until being read the comments by the Guardian.
“Well, that’s the first time that I’ve ever heard anything like that,” Garber said when interviewed at league meetings in Sarasota, Florida, on Monday. “Leo Messi is the most popular player in the world. He was, and he still is. I’d be happy to send an Apple subscription to the head of the Egyptian FA so he can watch as many Messi games as he’d like.”
This is far from the first time a senior soccer figure has questioned MLS’s quality. In 2015, Sebastian Giovinco left Juventus and was an instant smash with Toronto FC, leading the once-moribund club to two MLS Cup finals. But in 2016 Gian Piero Ventura left Giovinco out of his Italy squads, saying “he plays in a league that doesn’t matter much”.
MLS has also proved a popular pick for veteran players trying to round into form possible ahead of World Cups. As Wales prepared for their first game at the 2022 World Cup, the team’s manager, Rob Page, said Gareth Bale joining Los Angeles FC in the preceding summer had “been the right move” for the player. Colombia’s James Rodríguez is hoping to replicate that feat with Minnesota United ahead of this summer’s tournament, while Brazil goalkeeper Júlio César signed a short-term deal with Toronto FC before the 2014 World Cup.
“I think that [Hassan’s] point of view is very indicative of what MLS deals with as we develop as an aspiring major player on the world stage,” Garber said on Monday. “I can remember, not that long ago, Mexican national team coaches saying: ‘If you’re in MLS, you’re not going to play for our national team.’ That’s not the case today. We have national team players that have played in Major League Soccer, and we’ve got two or three players that are playing for Argentina and are playing in MLS.”
Notably, two of Mexico’s starters in Saturday’s scoreless draw with Portugal developed in MLS academies: 20-year-old Obed Vargas (Seattle) and 22-year-old Brian Gutiérrez (Chicago). Both players were coveted US-Mexico dual nationals whose commitment to El Tri bolstered the team’s pool of midfielders.
MLS supplied the most players for the 2022 World Cup’s squads of any league system beyond Europe’s established big five, with 36 players being selected while on MLS rosters and one more from third-division developmental MLS Next Pro.
These days, the league is generally assessed to be within the world’s 15 best by various metrics. As of 30 March, MLS is 13th in Opta’s league power rankings, between the top flights of Poland and Croatia, making it the third-highest circuit outside Europe after Liga Profesional Argentina (eighth) and Brazilian Serie A (ninth). Opta rates the Saudi Pro League as the world’s 37th strongest league.
Nevertheless, Hassan’s comments show that longstanding perception issues around MLS’s caliber remain. This week’s CSO meetings are in Sarasota to complement the ongoing Generation Adidas Cup in nearby Bradenton. The youth tournament involved all 30 MLS academies among an 88-team field, with notable participants from beyond MLS’s ranks including U-15 or U-16 teams from Barcelona, Boca Juniors and Bayern.
As a result Garber, who has said he would “love” to see Salah play in MLS, didn’t struggle to back his response with evidence of the league’s growth.
“We’re just constantly dealing with this perspective that we, Americans, will never get it, and it’s just not true,” Garber said. “We’ve got dozens of players [who came through MLS teams] playing in Europe. We’ve got some of the best players in the world playing here. We have the best facilities if you put them up against any league in the world. We have a national team coach [Mauricio Pochettino], who has been on the world’s stage, who believes in Major League Soccer. I’ve been dealing with skepticism for 27 years. It’s never stopped me, and it never will.”
