A good summer for American soccer

United keeper Troy Perkins during the match against Real Madrid (Photo: Ted Warren / AP)

Sure, our World Cup team stunk it up for the most part, except for that one game where they played the eventual champs better than any other team in the tournament, but what’s happened since then is pretty darn noteworthy, and it’s mainly thanks to local side DC United.

First United destroyed Scottish power Glasgow Celtic 4-0. Then last week a team of MLS all stars beat English champion Chelsea FC, and just last night in Seattle United played Spanish champion Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw.

These are major international clubs stocked with the world’s most famous and talented players. It’s still a stretch to claim DC and American soccer are as good or better than the world’s finest; MLS is still a relatively minor league in the grand scheme of world soccer. But after these games it simply cannot be denied that the best of our teams are competitive with the best of Europe.

Tags: sports