The Verde Report: MLS, Austin FC Capitalizing on World Cup Shake-Up

For the first time since World War II, four consecutive Julys will soon have come and gone without a men's FIFA World Cup final to show for them. It's 2022 and we, the global football-loving public, have been asked for our patience so FIFA executives can live out their dreams of bathing in crude oil on a hot December day while Messi and Ronaldo entertain the Qatari masses in a nearby stadium brought to you by the forced labor of migrant workers.

Fine. We'll wait. In the meantime, though, Major League Soccer is reaping the benefits of one side effect of FIFA's first-ever winter World Cup.

The vast majority of European soccer leagues – including all of the Top 5 of England, Spain, Italy, France, and Germany – traditionally run from September to May on the calendar, leaving room for major international tournaments in the summertime. MLS, meanwhile, is among the largest of the world's soccer leagues to routinely play straight through the summer months, regardless of what might pop up on the international horizon.

Typically, during World Cup years, this means several weeks of MLS matches absent many of the league's top stars, who are, of course, busy chasing glory with their national teams. Not so this summer. In fact, with other leagues currently on hiatus and several World Cup hopefuls in need of playing time, MLS has emerged as a prime destination for an intriguing pool of talented players in need of a pre-Qatar tune-up. It's already led MLS to one of its most star-studded transfer windows ever.

Leading the charge, as you may have heard, is the wondrous Welshman Gareth Bale, formerly of Real Madrid, who debuted this month for LAFC. Mexican mainstay Héctor Herrera recently completed his move from Atlético de Madrid to the Houston Dynamo in search of good form. Last week, two American expats – defender Shaq Moore and forward Nicholas Gioacchini – returned stateside with Nashville SC and Orlando City, respectively, in hopes of earning a spot on Gregg Berhalter's 26-man World Cup roster.

“Typically you’re bringing in guys from the summer, they’re coming off breaks or pauses. In this case, guys are wanting to stay fit. They’re wanting to stay in form. They’re wanting to get regular minutes so that they don’t miss a beat for what is the biggest moment in this sport, the World Cup,” Austin FC head coach and former U.S. National Team assistant coach Josh Wolff said. “I think we are seeing the benefits of it.”

Austin FC, too, has thrown its hat into the pre-Mundial arms race, signing Ecuadorian winger Washington Corozo to a six-month loan deal for the rest of the MLS season. The 24-year-old made it clear upon his arrival that his primary goal during his time in Austin involves impressing Ecuadorian national team manager Gustavo Alfaro enough to earn a World Cup call-up. Alfaro would have to be social media illiterate to not yet have seen Corozo's bicycle kick at Q2 Stadium over the weekend in a 4-3 defeat to the New York Red Bulls.

“Washington, it certainly helps him. He needs minutes now to try to compete and be a guy that can play there [in Qatar],” Wolff said. “We look forward to trying to help Washington make the Ecuadorian national team and be part of the World Cup because it’s going to be an incredible experience.”

Perhaps there's an argument to be made that flooding the league with players focused on short-term, self-oriented goals is not conducive to long-term improvement, but I'm not buying it. Even the most "team first" athletes carry aspirations of personal accomplishment. The key for MLS, especially as it pertains to global stars like Bale, has always come down to a question of those players' motivation to give maximum effort. The prospect of World Cup success is as motivating as it gets. Give MLS executives some credit for recognizing that reality and capitalizing on it.

And consider this: As Corozo left Q2 Stadium Sunday night, he did so clutching his first-ever Austin FC jersey tightly as a souvenir. Because as much as any player might have his own interests in mind, it's still a team sport at heart.