Once again, European teams will be flocking to the USA to play summer exhibitions, tagging on games at the end of their long domestic seasons, or coming in the name of preseason preparation. U.S.-based Ian Plenderleith writes that the "annual tours by major Euro-teams suggest they're stuck in the 1980s, in the condescending mindset that thinks the U.S. is still an unconquered footballing backwater, and that there's an infinity of surplus entertainment dollars to be sucked out of the country. ...

"There are all kinds of football fans in the U.S. – those who love MLS, those who only watch European football and those who are mad about the national team. Many not only fall into all three categories, but are heavily into one or more of the other major league sports. Millions more are too busy playing, organizing and coaching youth football to even have the spare time to catch more than the odd professional game. .... Everyone knows the game in the U.S. is growing at its own steady pace and that it can no longer be forced forwards by gimmickry."