Once again, Major League Soccer came up short in the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL). Toronto fought valiantly against Chivas, winning 2-1 in Mexico to cancel out Chivas's 2-1 victory in Canada, but the Reds came up short in the penalty shootout. Jonathan Osorio hit the crossbar. Michael Bradley put his attempt into space. Chivas took the shootout 4-2, Liga MX's 10th title in 10 years, ending the attempt by MLS's best team ever to break the string of Mexican victories.
North America's version of Europe's famous Champions League is important, but not so important that every team takes it seriously. Colorado head coach Anthony Hudson referred to his team's games this season as "part of the preseason." In an ESPN survey this year, only 35 percent of MLS players said the competition was a "priority." Yet, as a whole, both MLS fans and the league office look at the CCL as a major tournament.
So what gives?
The simplest explanation is that Liga MX is a measuring stick for how well MLS is doing as a league. For years, MLS's best teams have been slapped around by any team that Mexico sent to the CCL. The Americans and Canadians have made many excuses, chief among them that the CONCACAF Champions League took place in February, when MLS teams are in preseason and Liga MX teams are in midseason. The truth, though, is that the MLS teams just weren't good enough to compete. Outside of the two or three designated players on every American roster, the rest of the lineup was out of its depth.
This is a big reason that MLS started giving teams more money to spend on players, specifically targeted not toward big-name designated players but to building the rest of the roster. This year's CCL suggests that it's already been a successful strategy. Toronto defeated both Tigres, the Mexican champion, and América, the most famous team in Mexico. Both New York and Toronto won games in Mexico, something that never used to happen. MLS as a whole is still behind Mexico, but it's clear that — at least at the top — teams are starting to catch up.
This also matters because MLS always will fight the perception that it's nothing but a lucrative retirement plan for washed-up players.
"MLS or China" is universally mentioned as the destination for any big-name European player who's past his prime. Competing with Mexico's best gives MLS a way to prove that it's worth soccer fans' time and attention, whether those fans are Americans or not.
If MLS has its way, you'll see more competition between Liga MX and MLS in the coming years. The first edition of this will be September's Campeones Cup, matching Toronto and Tigres in a battle of league champions. MLS is hoping for more, and for future CCL success. MLS says it wants to be the best league in the world. Its first step, though, is achieving parity with its near southern neighbor.
