Ibrahimovic scored a 40-yard goal in his debut game with the Galaxy against LAFC. His team won 4-3. The team lost his first home game against Atlanta on April 21. Analysts have mixed feelings about his performance so far. The transfer, according to an MLSsoccer.com contributor, may result in lineup changes that create issues for the team as a whole. However, Charlie Davies predicts that teammate Giovani dos Santos, has the potential to work well with Ibrahimovic because of their similar styles of play.

The reporter in another article by The Guardian argued that the Galaxy’s recruitment of Ibrahimovic harkens back to the league’s former reputation as a “retirement home” for European soccer players past their prime. MLS teams now “use their money to scout South America for the best, young talent.” In contrast, all of Ibrahimovic’s appeal lies in his personality. The prime of his soccer career is behind him. The move is seen as similar to the hiring of David Beckham, who played for the same team from 2007 to 2012.

Besides starting on a new team for regular season play, Ibrahimovic has also expressed his interest in joining Sweden’s squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, starting June 14 in Russia. He had originally retired from international play after the 2016 Euro Cup but recently stated that a World Cup would not be the same without him. He has hinted at his desire to return to the Swedish National Team. Sweden’s national team manager, Janne Andersson, said in an official statement March 24 that Ibrahimovic is not currently included in Sweden’s World Cup plans.

“If you rejected the team, I do not think you should come back, I respect what he said and those who said ‘yes.’ [Ibrahimovic] has not called me, but he’s definitely not included in plans for the World Cup,” Andersson said in an interview with TYC.

Photo courtesy of LA Galaxy

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t like sports or that I don’t appreciate any athletes’ work. I’m an athlete too. I know how it’s hard to be an athlete and all the things you have to give up to reach your goals. But I still don’t think that people should get paid millions of dollars for that. Have you ever noticed that they make so much money that at some point, it doesn’t even make a difference if they get more? Their lifestyles just can’t get any better.

And don’t even get me started on the difference between men’s and women’s wages. Take The World’s Highest-Paid Athletes. The first woman to show up is number 51, Serena Williams. Spoiler alert, she’s also the only woman on a list of 100 athletes. And, I don’t believe that the lack of female players on the list is just because they don’t try hard enough.

As an example of this, I can’t stop thinking about the U.S. women’s soccer team. In case you never heard about this fight, the U.S. women’s team was demanding payment equal to the men’s soccer team. They played much more, won many more times and even practiced more. But that didn’t mean anything for the U.S. Soccer Federation.

However, this is not my point. What really bothers me is how athletes, mostly men, are made out to be rock stars, the best of our society, the best you could ever be. You can get money and attention just by playing your favorite sport. I strongly disagree with this system.

No one should be put on a pedestal, and the ones that get the closest to deserving that type of glorification are the ones fighting for others and putting their lives at risk, like people who go to third-world countries to help dying children. People who actually help others should be getting credit for their work. No offense, but running around a ball or puck or whatever your favorite sport does is not that big of a deal.

Despite everything, I’m not that naive and I know that sports have become a market that sells. Players are not only athletes, their names become brands and anything that they touch can be charged 10 times more. But, honestly, this has just gotten out of hand. Society’s praise of public figures is unhealthy, and the way that many markets exploit it is wrong.

There’s at least one bright side to this devotion to sports. Many athletes pursue academic careers to continue playing or as a way to reach the professional level. In some ways, sports are a way to keep kids in school.

Overall, athletes are deserving of good payment because they work hard. But in my opinion, society should think about how much they should actually be paid, and that they are not actual gods.   

Photo courtesy of Finance News 24

The very existence of these sports in other countries is nothing new. We’ve had Canadian teams like the Toronto Blue Jays or Montreal Canadiens in American leagues for a while, and countries in the Caribbean have maintained national baseball leagues with their own championship for some time. What has been changing is the predominance and ability to compete. This past year, all four of Toronto’s American professional teams (Blue Jays, Maple Leafs, Raptors, and FC) made their respective leagues’ playoffs, the latest in a pattern of frequent appearances. International talent has only been growing. But it’s not just the talent that’s improving: the NFL International Series, which hosts regular season games in the stadiums of other countries, has shown that the United Kingdom and Mexico are hungry for American sports.

Though NFL teams in London might present a logistical nightmare for regular season play, Mexico is right next door. Better yet, other sports like baseball have already established leagues operating just south of the border. Liga Mexicana de Béisbol, Mexico’s predominant baseball league, already operates under the umbrella of Minor League Baseball. There have been talks of creating a Mexico City expansion team, a move that could prove risky, but elevations of already existing AAA teams in Mexico, teams that aren’t connected to major league teams through Player Development Contract, might prove a less risky move. The bulk of its players already compete with us in the World Baseball Classic, albeit under the leadership of stellar foreign-born MLB players. Such a team could improve and gain popularity as it plays with the best of the best in the MLB, and even teams of all sports with small markets (Green Bay, for example) manage to stay afloat in the age of radio, television and live-streaming online. Our current American leagues didn’t appear out of nowhere. While many teams have always existed in their current iteration, moving from city to city, many still were brought on-board when their league was absorbed into the organizations we have today (the American Basketball League-National Basketball League merger, for example).

Monetary potential aside, there’s also cultural value to gain. What better way to unite the cultures of North America than to play baseball together, a sport we all love? In an age of anti-Mexican and Canadian sentiment coming from the president of the United States himself, perhaps the remedy would be stronger ties in a larger, shared MLB, NFL or NBA. We already enjoy great cultural flow between the Northern United States and Canada through the NHL. Why not replicate that with Mexican and Caribbean MLB teams? Europe is practically united in soccer, more so than a European Union that’s in danger of collapse after Brexit. Why haven’t we done the same in the New World with our sports? Let’s make the term “World Series” a little more legitimate.

Photo courtesy of Edmonton Journal.

The game, although not great in terms of technical prowess, showed great spirit by both teams. Initially the Timbers were up 1-0 after the 57th minute. Then Kevin Ellis pulled a goal back for Sporting in the 87th minute, leading to extra time.

Extra time led to even more excitement with Kristian Nemeth scoring a goal for Sporting in the 96th minute. It looked like Sporting had found their way to a comeback despite losing their starting goalkeeper, Tim Melia, to injury before extra time began. However, it was not meant to be. Just two minutes before the end of extra time the Timbers scored, which led to the game being decided on a penalty kick shootout.

Things then became even more interesting with all 11 players on the field at the end of extra time taking penalty kicks. Sporting KC hit the post twice, and one of those shots managed to hit both posts and still not fall into the back of the net. The Timbers ultimately won on a penalty kick and a save from their goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey.

While Sporting KC did not end up winning the game and continuing in the competition, they did have the chance to be part of one of the most back and forth games in MLS playoff history. Both Sporting KC and the Portland Timbers fans can agree that the game is an instant classic. While many Sporting fans are upset that they did not win, they can at least take solace in the fact that enriching the history of the league is not altogether a loss.