The United States of America or the promised land in many walks of life, and even in football - or soccer - for many legends of the game. Mostly near the end of their playing careers.
However, this does not diminish the fact that all of them gave a special touch to the former NASL and now the MLS league.
The last in a series of football icons whose mastery will be enjoyed by fans all over the USA (and Canada, with which they traditionally share the league) is the best football player on the planet, Lionel Messi, who confirmed two days ago that from now on he will wear the jersey of Inter from Miami.
For the first time, "Americans" fell in love with soccer during the broadcast of the 1966 World Cup in England, so the idea for creating the NASL league was soon born.
The real boom happened during the seventies, mostly thanks to the New York Cosmos, which then brought in a number of world grandmasters such as the Brazilian Pele, his compatriot and great friend Carlos Alberto, the German legend Franz Beckenbauer, the Dutchman Johan Neskens, the Italian Giorgio Kinalla...
The club whose colors were also worn by our own Dragan Vujović a little later in the eighties, from 1972 to 1982 he was the American champion five times.
In addition to Kosmos, many other greats who changed football played under the American sun in those years, such as the unsurpassed Dutchman Johan Cruyff, who wore the jersey of the Washington Diplomats team.
Messi's new club from Miami was founded five years ago - in the same place, fifty kilometers from that city, where the Fort Lauderdale Strikers used to exist. His jersey was worn by one of the best forwards of all time, German Gerd Müller and Manchester United legend George Best.
Many clubs in the USA and Canada were changed by the best Portuguese footballer of all time, Eusebio (Boston, Toronto, LAs Vegas, New Jersey, Buffalo), while the captain of the only English national team that won the World Cup (1966), Bobby Moore, wore the jerseys of San Antonio, Seattle and Carolina.
Before Moore, his eternal partner in England and West Ham and the scorer of three goals in the final of the aforementioned World Cup, Jeff Hurst, played for the Seattle Sounders.
The NASL league was closed in 1985, and the MLS was born in 1993. The first years of the new league were marked by the famous Colombian Carlos Valderama (Tampa Bay, Colorado...), the Bulgarian legend Hristo Stoichkov (Chicago Fire and DC United), the Italian Roberto Donadoni (Metrostars, today's New York RB) and Mexican goalkeeper Jorge Campos (LA Galaxy, Chicago), but the real "madness" was started by the superstar and current president of Messi's Inter, David Beckham.
Everything he brings with him (football knowledge, but also much more than that) the great Englishman brought to LA Galaxy.
After him, the doors of MLS were open for many stars, so legends such as Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls), Ballon d'Or winner Kaka (Orlando), Alessandro Nesta (Montreal), Frank Lampard, David Villa (both in New York are you)...
And, after them came Andrea Pirlo (New York City), Steven Gerrard (LA Galaxy), Didier Drogba (Montreal), Wayne Rooney (DC United), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Chicago Fire), Zlatan Ibrahimović (LA Galaxy), Gonzalo Higuain (Inter Miami), Giorgio Chiellini (Los Angeles FC)...
The new era starts in July, when the best soccer player of today should make his debut under the American sun.
Bonus video:
