Tonight on ESPN 2 at 9pm ET the two time defending champion Houston Dynamo will face the three time defending runners-up the New England Revolution. Sounds mouthwatering, right? Wrong!
The following key players are missing thanks to World Cup qualifiers:
HOUSTON:
Brian Ching (USA)
Dwayne DeRossario (Canada)
Pat Onstad (Canada)
NEW ENGLAND:
Shalrie Joseph (Greneda)
Khano Smith (Bermuda)
Kenny Mansally (Gambia)
and of course some players like Taylor Twellman have not been called into the their national team (in his case the USA) due to injury.
MLS insistence on playing right through CONCACAF’s World Cup qualifiers and in some cases accelerating the schedule of teams participating in the Superliga makes this match certainly worth missing. This match would have been one of the signature events of the season but now instead will resemble a meeting of two hamstrung USL-2 sides. Major League Soccer may have made strides in quality over the past few seasons but the league is not yet strong enough to give a presentable product when so many key players are missing.
