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| AFP Yonhap News |
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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'The land of sports'The United States is different when you touch it. The U.S. soccer, joined by Son Heung-min (33, LA FC), is enjoying an all-time boom.
On the 28th, TV Tokyo aired a plan that sheds light on the changes in U.S. soccer ahead of the Japanese national soccer team's September away trip to the U.S. Takehiko Nakamura, a U.S. soccer expert who served as an international department director at Spain's prestigious FC Barcelona, and Toshifumi Tonami, a former Japanese national team, talked about the current state of U.S. soccer. Yoshida, former captain of the Japanese national team who currently plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy in the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLS) Maya, 37, appeared via video call.
Nakamura said of the popularity of American football, which hit an all-time high, `The United States used to be considered a wasteland of football. Women's soccer was more popular than men's soccer. It is now so popular that it ranks third in spectators among the four major sports in the United States (MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL). The younger generation is starting to watch soccer as well,' he said, describing the current MLS atmosphere.
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Then "The United States is like a melting pot where people from all over the world gather. It has been about 30 years since MLS was founded. Two and three-year-old Americans have started watching professional football in the United States where they were born. These days, when I turn on the TV, the game is being broadcast somewhere (on PPV)." Son Heung-min, who played in the English Premier League (EPL) for 10 years, entered the U.S. stage on the 7th by joining LA FC of MLS.
Maya, a third-year MLS player who played for Southampton, Sampdoria and Schalke04 before entering LA two years before Son Heung-min in August 2023, believes the value of MLS is rising. Popularity is rising, and the value of investment is rising"The overall (football) level has improved, and the environment is very good. There are many clubs with better environments than the upper-middle European clubs, which are not well known to the Japanese.
Yoshida said "LA Galaxy's facilities aren't very good," but the program surprised the cast by featuring large gyms and 'virtual equipment' such as VR goggles. The host says the facilities are not good despite this. "Isn't that a bit too much?" Nakamura testified. "LA Galaxy facilities are old."
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Meanwhile, Nakamura said that the infrastructure of the U.S. college soccer community is also strengthening. "I was a volunteer coach at the University of Massachusetts last year. It was amazing. It has its own natural lawn and its own stadium. Last year, the University of Massachusetts advanced to the quarterfinals in the national competition, and it was a shock that they came by private jet."
Some players surprised the host by saying they receive scholarships worth 6 million yen (about 56 million won).
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
