SEATTLE — Walking through Pioneer Square on the way to Friday’s match was an image of what soccer should be. Tens of thousands of fans brimming with excitement, overflowing with joy ahead of the upcoming United States-Australia World Cup match.
Among those who took particular notice was MLS Commissioner Don Garber, connecting the atmosphere directly to what the Seattle Sounders have helped foster.
“Seattle was the boost that showed the world that there can be a popular, viable, and meaningful soccer team in the United States,” he told media before the game. “I never expected the fan base that they had here from the very beginning, still does. They kind of launched, along with Portland and a handful of others, the Sons of Ben in Philly, this concept of a supporters’ culture.”
Although Garber focused his praise on what has happened since the Sounders joined MLS in 2009, he acknowledged that the historical support in the region plays a large part, too.
“Soccer has been here for 50 years, similar in Vancouver, you know,” he said. “We came in and have taken it forward, but Adrian [Hanauer] showed the world what soccer in America could be.
“MLS isn’t what it is without the Sounders, and that's what I’m seeing outside. There’s just joy in the streets, and I’m not quite sure we’d have that joy if it wasn’t for the Sounders.”
