Making it in the U.S.A.

It’s pre-season for European and Mexican soccer clubs and some of the biggest clubs are criss-crossing the U.S. playing exhibition matches. Everton, which is one of the bigger European clubs anyway, is here and will play the Major League Soccer all-stars Wednesday night.
Four clubs — Chelsea, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Club America (Mexico) — participated in the so-called World Challenge tournament. They played six matches with attendance, on average, of almost 70,000. Other exhibition matches featuring comparable clubs have consistently drawn 50,000 or more.
This suggests that, after a long slog and contrary to popular belief, big-time soccer has made it big time in the United States. It is Major League Soccer, with its mediocre play and lack of major stars, that has not really made it.