Asian invasion of MLS?
The continent of Asia remains relatively uncharted territory for Major League Soccer, but that could be about to change over the next few years.
There is a growing level of intrigue in the league about what sort of impact a major Asian star could have on MLS, and it may only be a matter of time before someone takes the plunge.
With Seattle coming into MLS in 2009 – and given that city's strong Japanese population and the success of baseball star Ichiro Suzuki – chances are that a player from Japan could end up in the Pacific Northwest.
Since many Japanese players earn good money playing in the J-League at home, a big-name star would not come cheap. But there are some decent options.
Shunsuke Nakamura of Celtic has emerged into a superb talent and would be a major (if expensive) coup for MLS. There is also 2002 World Cup star Junichi Inamoto, who's currently playing in Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt. Inamoto is a major celebrity in Japan and his arrival in MLS would generate enormous publicity over there.
THOUGHT OF THE NIGHT
"For a football club to bounce back from something as terrible as Munich, and to go on and become the huge club it is today – it's just an honor to be a part of it and part of the history of Manchester United" – Wayne Rooney on how the impact of the 1958 Munich air disaster still affects all at Old Trafford.
