Can USMNT’s Performance in World Cup Deliver a Verdict on Quality of MLS?

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 6, 2014

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Over the past two years, with so many key components to the United States men’s national team choosing to either stay in Major League Soccer or make a return to the league after stints in Europe, the league’s importance to the national team has never been higher.

In addition to Landon Donovan, who has been in the league since he was a teenager, Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley have returned, while Matt Besler, Omar Gonzalez and Graham Zusi have spurned offers in Europe to stay home.



Additionally, Clarence Goodson, Maurice Edu and Michael Parkhurst returned this past year and a number of other MLS players—notably Kyle Beckerman, Eddie Johnson, Brad Evans and Chris Wondolowski—are expected to compete for playing time on the United States’ World Cup team headed to Brazil this summer.

So with the potential of 13 players (adding in Nick Rimando) on the United States’ World Cup roster coming from MLS, including six players who will most likely start for the red, white and blue, the USA’s performance in Brazil should deliver a clear-cut verdict on the quality, or lack thereof, in MLS.

Or, maybe not.

If the U.S. offense can manage to score against its considerable group-stage foes Ghana, Portugal and Germany, it will likely come from the efforts of Donovan, Dempsey, Bradley and Jozy Altidore. And while all four have played in MLS, only Donovan has spent the majority of his career in MLS.

Dempsey was a promising young striker when he left the New England Revolution for Fulham in 2006, but he truly honed his skills in the English Premier League between 2007 and 2013. Bradley was a youngster for the then-New York MetroStars in 2004 and 2005 but became a top midfielder after stints with Heerenveen, Borussia Monchengladbach, Chievo Verona and, finally, AS Roma.



And Altidore, who also played with New York (by then known as t...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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