“It is a question of time, I thought — we had the World Cup in 1994. But it is now 18 years in so it should have been done now. But they are still struggling. … There is no very strong professional league (in the U.S.) They have just the MLS but they have no professional leagues which are recognized by the American society. … They have to play and adapt themselves to the international calendar. If they do that, they can have success. I spoke several times and I spoke on this 10 years ago when I was still secretary general and nothing has changed in the USA.”

–Sepp Blatter’s harsh take on MLS and professional soccer in America. My only question: If the seventh-most popular league in the world isn’t very strong, then where does that leave, oh, 80 percent of Europe?