Which is progress, honestly. MLS has been able to develop and move players on. Of players getting regular minutes Turner, Ream, Adams, Aaronson, Acosta, Zimmerman, and Moore have all played or currently play in MLS while Weah and McKennie both played in an MLS youth set-up. The reality in this hemisphere is that your very top level players are likely playing in Europe. I mean, Argentina has 1 player (a GK) from a domestic league and 1 from MLS. Brazil has 3 domestic players and 1 in Mexico (39 year old Dani Alves). If MLS becomes like Brazil for domestic and South American talent (and throw in some Euro players) then it is perfectly fine.
Szczesny on pace to shatter Howard's saves record in this game -- Howard made 15 saves through 120 minutes, Szczesny has 9 and the first half isn't over yet.
Yeah, the number of former MLS players or MLS youth players is much larger. Also, the financial reality is that the big five European leagues have been able to buy up more and more of the top talent. In 1998, the first post-Bosman World Cup, 42 percent of the players were in the big five European leagues. (It was 35 percent in 1994, but that number was affected by England and France failing to qualify.) That number has steadily risen, reaching an all-time high of 55 percent in 2022 despite Italy's absence.
Poland took off all their players with MLS experience and they concede within a few minutes. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. Also, Mexico up 2 now.
GOLAZO for Mexico from Luis Chavez. Free kick from a ridiculous distance, hit into the upper corner with such pace that I don't think any keeper on the planet would have stopped it.
My feed downstairs is about 10 seconds ahead of the TV upstairs my wife is watching the game on. So, I've got a heads up on when I'm going to hear her non-sports watching butt yell at the TV.