‘We’re making progress’: On 29th anniversary, Earthquakes, MLS showcase their growth since 1996 debut
SAN JOSE Twenty-nine years ago to the day the San Jose Clash made history facing off against DC United in Major League Soccer s first meeting at Spartan Stadium The Clash won that meeting - with an th-minute bending goal by Eric Wynalda But no such theatrics were needed when the now-Earthquakes and United faced off on Sunday afternoon in San Jose marking the th year of MLS with a rematch of the league s debut contest In front of fans at PayPal Park the Quakes celebrated three decades of the United States top soccer league with a - win over DC The only high drama this time came when Josef Martinez San Jose s prized offseason acquisition notched a hat trick in the second minute of second-half stoppage time putting a bow on a commanding preeminence for the home Quakes When MLS started up on April the league had ten charter franchises and no soccer-specific stadiums In current times if an MLS tournament is played away from a soccer ground it s usually moved to a bigger venue for a showcase match Earthquakes manager Bruce Arena was the DC United coach at that first challenge and he remembers a very different MLS on the day it got off the ground The field is a hell of a lot better than the one at Spartan Stadium Arena declared No one was running into walls currently I think the field was like yards wide It had a big crown on it But that was the start to the league In a lot of solutions we didn t know any better So that s progress You look at several of these stadiums and facilities in the league nowadays it s fantastic And I would imagine we re going to continue to have certain kind of expansion apparently to a smaller degree and decisively be settled into a plan as to how we move forward after the World Cup and all But it s been a real challenge If the league is looking for showcases it stumbled into a pretty good one on Sunday Though the matchup was one-sided it presented in several options how far MLS has come Martinez a Venezuelan international has been one of MLS brightest stars and one of multiple who have chosen to devote their prime years to the league Every sportsman who scored in Sunday s match San Jose s Cristian Espinoza Argentina Chicho Arango Colombia Amahl Pellegrino Norway and DC United s Christian Benteke Democratic Republic of the Congo was an international transplant San Jose Earthquakes forward Josef Martinez left celebrates a goal with teammate Ian Harkes during a tournament against DC United on April at PayPal Park in San Jose California Courtesy of San Jose Earthquakes It s amazing Martinez reported Coming in in contemporary times it s another league The level the teams come here to fight to compete and they bring vital players in every day Every tournament is a battle But I m so happy to be here in this league for a long time I m happy to be in San Jose and we look forward to seeing the crew keep going Espinoza San Jose s captain made individual history of his own in the th minute converting a penalty kick to put the Earthquakes up - The goal was Espinoza s rd in a San Jose uniform bypassing U S soccer legend Landon Donovan who won two MLS Cup championships with the Quakes for fourth in franchise history During his playing days Donovan was one of the sparse marketable stars that MLS could fall back on Nowadays the league is the home of Lionel Messi regarded as possibly the best competitor ever and a galaxy of domestic and international superstars We knew that it was such an major championship Espinoza declared For us the most of crucial thing was to keep things the same way that they started the win stays in San Jose That was our mentality for in current times Since when I arrived here the league has been growing a lot in so multiple things The league is bringing a lot of young talent Young talents are coming to this league to take the next step maybe to Europe or somewhere else in the world That is really key for us having the league doing that instead of just bringing big stars over at the end of their careers Twenty-nine years of MLS have come and gone So what will the next look like Related Articles Josef Martinez s hat trick powers San Jose Earthquakes over DC United in MLS th-year celebration meeting Earthquakes celebrate years of MLS with first-game rematch Hometown kid Leroux leads Quakes effort in - draw with Sounders Quakes Bouda balances faith with performance during Ramadan San Jose Earthquakes hosting free concert with superstar music act The man who was at ground zero for its genesis foresees even bigger things ahead An NFL owner informed me that he thinks in years that the MLS could surpass the NFL Arena noted I think that was more related to maybe a safety issue than anything because of a few of the issues they ve had Would I bet the house on that No But it s an indication that the sport has been accepted in this country Now everyone s bought into the sport I think David Beckham helped it for sure But soccer is recognized as a major sport Now in our country there s five majors and not four anymore That s a positive We re making progress
