A few years ago, Jimmy Nordberg, then the coach of an indoor soccer team in Ontario, was trying to find a way to generate interest in a sport that, until now, had generated very little interest.
“So we asked ourselves, ‘What’s the best rivalry we have in this country when it comes to soccer?’ » said Nordberg, now executive vice-president of the Ontario association. The Empire strikers. “It’s us against Mexico.”
That was five years ago and the idea worked so well, drawing 7,800 people the first year, nearly four times Nordberg’s team average during the regular season, that the exhibition is become a staple of the team’s preseason schedule. This fall’s game, the fourth in a series that skipped two years due to COVID, will be played Sunday afternoon at Toyota Arena in Ontario, with the men’s game following a women’s game.
It will also be very different from those that preceded it.
Thanks to the work of Nordberg and hyper-aggressive Strykers owner Jeff Burum, the rosters of both men’s teams, while largely comprised of Major Arena Soccer League players, will also include World Cup veterans, former national team players. and MLS Cup winners. This is a bold and costly move for the league and the club.
The Mexican side will have Marc Fabienmember of two World Cup teams, Miguel Ponce, another former Mexico international and reigning league most valuable player Genaro Castillo – provided Castillo’s visa is approved. Fabian and Ponce have both participated in the U.S.-Mexico rivalry outdoors, as has former U.S. international Brek Shea, who will play for the United States indoors.
Shea, who also played in England and with five MLS teams before retiring in 2022, will be joined by Marcelo Sarvasdouble MLS Cup champion with the Galaxy who recently became an American citizen. Sarvas, who turns 43 next month, played his last MLS game in 2017, but is in negotiations to join Fabian and Ponce with the Strykers when the MASL season begins in November.
“It’s like a routine again. Going to practice, to teammates, to the locker room,” Sarvas said. “It’s something I’ve done my whole life. It’s something I like.
Sarvas, who was fired as coach of the Galaxy’s MLS affiliate NextPro a year ago, said a friend took him to see indoor games and he was quickly won over.
“It’s a good match,” he said. “It’s fast, it’s competitive. There’s always something happening. I love the challenge of transitioning to indoor soccer.
Shea got hooked in the same way, participating in the seven-on-seven (TST) soccer tournament in North Carolina the past two summers.
“It’s a fun tournament. I’ve met quite a few guys who play indoors,” he said. “I had a great time with them, their style, their passion for the game. So the chance to play with them in their sport, I couldn’t refuse it.
The rules for MASL are slightly different from those for TST – and extremely different for full-size outdoor play. Each team has five outfield players and a goalkeeper, and substitutions, which are unlimited, occur on the fly, with players falling off the bench and over the boards every 90 seconds. Games consist of four 15-minute periods, with the clock stopping in the event of a dead ball.
Walls are in play – and are frequently used to make passes that avoid defenders – while a blue card from the referee means two minutes in the penalty box, leaving a team playing shorthanded.
“There’s a lot of stuff with the wall, the speed of the game. You play two minutes and you’re out,” said Sarvas, whose midfield play has been key to the Galaxy’s last two MLS titles. “There are a lot of things I need to learn, but I’m ready to do it. »
The salary is also different. Sarvas was guaranteed $425,000 in his final MLS season with DC United in 2017. Salaries in the MASL typically range between $10,000 and $25,000 for the five-month season, forcing many players to supplement their income elsewhere. However, the league has no salary cap, so the Strykers and Burum, the biggest spending owner in the MASL, were able to offer Fabian a two-year contract that included future rights to own a league franchise, which could be worth more than a million dollars. .
Shea, 34, has taken a similar attitude about learning the game.
“It’s a smaller lot, with tighter spaces,” he said. “I’ll probably be surprised by some things, but I want to adapt pretty quickly and I’m excited to give it a shot.”
He wouldn’t say whether Sunday’s game marks the end of Shea’s indoor career or, like Sarvas, the beginning of one.
“Nothing is off the table,” said Shea, who was guaranteed $206,100 in his final MLS season in 2022. “I want to give it a shot and Mexico has a soft spot in my heart.” Who knows where it goes from there.
Nordberg could say the same thing about the brainstorming he conducted five years ago. Last year, the women’s match, broadcast online, was viewed 250,000 times in Canada and Mexico alone. This year’s Team USA includes two-time national and Olympic medalist Lauren Sesselmann, who has made 46 international appearances for Canada.
“Continue to develop the game, that’s what we have to do,” he said. “We see the long-term goal. We see the effects. I don’t think anyone’s come to an indoor game has had a terrible time.
“People like the product. We just need to get people to see it.
