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Saturday's L.A.-N.Y. sellout featured Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez, Juan Pablo Angel, Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle and David Beckham

BY KYLE FRANKO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

HARRISON — As American soccer fans begin to come out of their post-World Cup hangovers, the question that faces many supporters is what's next.

In particular, what's next for Major League Soccer, the country's domestic league now in its 15th season. Interest in the sport is at an all-time high after a series of thrilling performances by the U.S. at the World Cup.

MLS has to take advantage and that means more games like Saturday night's between the New York Red Bulls and Los Angeles Galaxy. The two sides played in front of a sell out crowd of 25,000 at Red Bull Arena, the stadiums first for a regular season MLS game. To find the reason for the sell out look no further than the star power on and off the field.

The Red Bulls trotted out a lineup featuring designated players Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez and Juan Pablo Angel. The L.A. side featured U.S. World Cup stars Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle while David Beckham, still recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, sat on the bench.

The MLS' designated player rule allows teams to sign players that would normally be outside that particular team's salary cap. Each team can sign two players above the salary cap with an option to purchase a third slot for $250,000.

"It gives it immediate credibility," said Donovan when asked what the addition of star players means to the league. "It makes the league better. You can see the difference in the skill level, the intelligence, the work rate, the positioning. You can tell when guys like Henry and Marquez are on the field. It brings something a little different, and it's going to make our league better."

That influx of quality talent is the main difference between the league now and five years ago. While Henry and Marquez aren't spring chickens at 32 and 31, respectively, they still have plenty left in the tank.

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"Back in the day when they would sign these guys for big money they would just be coming on vacation," said former Red Bull Clint Mathis, who announced his retirement last week after 12 years, 11 of which he spent in MLS. "The guys they are signing now are still great players. Thierry just retired from international soccer, but you looked at Rafa and he's still [playing for Mexico].

"These guys are playing at Barcelona and big time clubs and they can still come out here and play. I think it's not only great for the league, but great for the fans here. It continues to show guys that are playing on the world stage. Some might feel like this a second-tier league compared to the leagues they're coming from, but they're not just coming here to collect a check and live in the States. They're coming here to win championships."

But even designated players like Henry and Marquez are finding out how difficult MLS can be. Marquez's turnover in midfield led to the game's only goal Saturday night and Henry struggled to find any space against a stingy L.A. defense.

While MLS has come a long way since its opening days their still has to be a happy medium with all these designated players. The bottom line is that the best leagues in the world are in Europe and while players and management are often asked about whether MLS can be a top league, it would be foolish to predict that it will ever be on par with England, Spain, Italy or Germany.

That doesn't mean there isn't a place for it on the world stage. The league has produced talented players like Clint Dempsey, Stuart Holden and Jozy Altidore, and there is no shame in being an excellent feeder league. But the American ideal isn't to be second best so the league allows for these expensive designated players.

Then again it really has little choice if it wants to be competitive in a country where soccer isn't the sport of choice. Judging by the return since the DP rule came into play in 2007 the results have been good.

New, soccer specific stadiums have popped up in New York, Colorado, Salt Lake City and Philadelphia, and the league continues to expand. Clubs in Portland and Vancouver are preparing to begin play next season while there are plans to add two more teams further down the line to bring the league total to 20.

"The stadium was fantastic," Donovan said of Red Bull Arena, the crown jewel of these new stadiums. "I like the way the seats are built, how close they are, and it just feels really intimate. It's a good environment; it was fun to play in."

The stadiums and expansion show that there is progress in American soccer. It's clear that soccer is here to stay as MLS searches for its place on the world radar. For Donovan, the league's most marketable homegrown star, designated players are only helping.

"It was great, we need that in our league," Donovan said. "We want the opportunity to play in full stadiums and I guess now with Henry and Marquez [in New York], they're going to have a lot more fans. For us it makes the game a little more intense, a little more real, and it's fun to play them."