MLS First Kick

It began yesterday. No, not March Madness you silly Americans, MLS, a professional sport. The first game pitted the expansion franchise Seattle Sounders against MLS Cup runners up NY Red Bulls. I don't generally expect a lot out of the quality of the American game, but I figured I should support MLS, so I watched.

The game was actually pretty good, minus a few bad touches here and there, and a few passes gone astray. I was pleasantly surprised at how much the game resembled the European game. Rojas continually dropped deep into midfield to collect the ball for NY, filling a Xavi-like role. He was supposedly playing off of Juan Pablo Angel as a second forward, but that just didn't happen. I think that's probably part of the reason for NY's struggles. Seattle played a more direct game, firing long balls up to the towering Nate Jacqua, who looked surprisingly good at controlling the ball.

One man stole the show, however, and that man was rookie Freddy Montero. Montero played with great vision, constantly hassled the NY defense, and showed sublime skill in finishing. He had a hand in all three Seattle goals, scoring the first and the third and setting up the second with a beautiful reverse ball. The 21 year-old's got talent - it's undeniable. The goals were well deserved by Montero. The third was unassisted, and he put himself in perfect position to score the first. I wonder if he'll hit the twenty mark this season. I wouldn't be surprised.

On top of the quality of the match, the atmosphere was great as well. Well, great might be a bit of stretch because the fans still don't understand that much (contrary to what Eric Wynalda thinks, but I've never agreed with him, so who cares). The were cheering raucously when Keller made a great save late in the second half. Typically, European fans would be booing their defense for allowing a goalscoring opportunity (I think). Regardless, there were 32,000 fans in attendance - a fantastic number for MLS, and Drew Carey (the minority owner) has managed to sell 20,000 season tickets. That's fantastic. If the atmosphere is as great for every game as it was for the first one, Seattle will undoubtedly become the best footballing franchise in the United States.

I'm now excited for the season to get into full swing. I plan on actually following MLS this year, so expect a fair bit of it in my blog. Consider it my way of supporting the world's game in this country - making my voluntary readership read about it. I'll be starting my Sunday Morning Football post again this weekend hopefully, so check back for some more football news then.