MLS' shift towards South America should pay off big

MLS' shift towards South America should pay off big
If you've noticed that Major League Soccer headlines have taken on a Spanish feel lately, it's no accident. But by the time the 2007 season ended, the league's greatest victory was the success of its Latin American players.
And while Mexico's Cuauhtémoc Blanco got most of the ink, it was the accomplishments of South American players like Luciano Emilio, Juan Pablo Ángel and Guillermo Barros Schelotto that took the league by storm. It's no surprise that this season, MLS has accelerated the trend of bringing in talented South Americans. If the 13-year-old league's goal is to eventually join the world's elite, this is certainly a step in the right direction.
South America, of course, has contributed heaps of world-class players to the world game over the years, and the thought of bringing Argentines, Brazilians, Colombians and Uruguayans to MLS couldn't be a better one. If you scan the top leagues in Europe -- Spain, Italy, Germany and now even England -- the rosters are dominated by large amounts of South Americans.
This is nothing new to the world, but for a league like MLS, which has prided itself on homegrown talent, the recent influx of talented South Americans is a big change in philosophy. South American soccer is renowned for the skill and quality of its players, its different styles, the interest it attracts among its fans and the dedication they have for the sport.
If the South American imports are able to inject all this into MLS, as the great Pelé did when he joined the New York Cosmos in 1977, the league may well undergo such a huge transformation that its teams may eventually compete with the top clubs of Europe, both in success and popularity. This isn't an exaggeration.
The league is taking its first step this season. MLS will count on the services of more than 25 South Americans, and the number is likely to increase before the primary transfer window closes in mid-April now that the league allows clubs to have more foreigners.
From all the teams looking at acquiring talented South Americans, the club leading the charge is a familiar one, D.C. United. On Tuesday it unveiled its latest signing: highly rated Argentine playmaker Marcelo Gallardo, who joined the club on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain. El Muñeco became D.C.'s fifth South American acquisition in less than a week.
Although the club's other four purchases, José Carvallo, Gonzalo Peralta, Gonzalo Martínez and Franco Niell, are relatively unknown commodities, they promise to impress this season, and are likely to help the four-time MLS Cup champs mount a strong title challenge.
D.C. has been MLS' trendsetter when it comes to signing South American players over the years and much of its success has been defined by the South Americans among its ranks. In the league's inaugural season of '96, D.C. boasted Bolivian soccer legend Marco Etcheverry, and a young Jaime Moreno, another Bolivian.
Etcheverry went on to lead the club to three MLS Cups before retiring after the '03 season. Moreno, who this week signed a one-year contract extension, has been on all four of D.C.'s title-winning teams and is the all-time leading scorer in MLS history with 112 goals.

Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com