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SPORTSSaturday 5 March 2016
European stars adapt to life in MLS before 2nd season
GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.
(AP) — Andrea Pirlo and his
girlfriend can walk nearly
unnoticed on New York’s
High Line elevated park af-
ter dinner at a quiet Italian heat, altitude, sub-optimal
restaurant.
Steven Gerrard can take
his family to Disneyland
without hordes of fans
blocking his path through
Fantasyland.
When the best European
soccer players reach a
certain age, relative ano-
nymity is just one of many
reasons to migrate to North
America. Their wealth and
fame don’t vanish, but
they can live and play in
Major League Soccer with-
out spending their every-
day life under a spotlight.
“It is refreshing, and it’s
peaceful,” said Gerrard,
who left Liverpool last sum-
mer for the LA Galaxy and
a rented mansion in Bev-
erly Hills.
“I go about my day-to-
day business pretty much
unrecognized,” he add-
ed. “The odd few people
who are football — soc-
cer — fans pull me aside
from time to time, which is
fine. But at home, it’s very
intense. It’s very grueling
when you’re the captain
of Liverpool and England.
It’s nonstop.”
The two-decade flow of
mature talent into MLS hit
another high in 2015 with a
remarkable influx of promi-
nent players from Europe.
David Villa, Frank Lam-
pard and Pirlo teamed
up with deep-pocketed
NYCFC. Didier Drogba left
Chelsea for the Montreal
Impact, and Italy’s Se-
bastian Giovinco joined
Toronto FC. In addition,
Brazil’s Kaka and Mexico’s
Giovani Dos Santos left Eu-
ropean careers for lucra-
tive stateside moves.
The league’s growing inter-
national profile and deep-
pocketed owners make it
more attractive than ever
to players hoping to end
their careers with com-
fortable living and regular
playing time in a relatively
benign fan culture and
media climate.
While some superstars
adjusted to the league’s
In this Aug. 23, 2015, file photo, Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder it’s fine. New York is so ac- est impact on MLS, which
Steven Gerrard, left, of England, battles for the ball with New commodating. You can
York City FC midfielder Andrea Pirlo, of Italy, during the first half do anything, anywhere,
of a MLS soccer match in Carson, Calif. whenever you want. Not a
problem.”
Associated Press The stars head into the new
season better equipped to
posite ends of the conti- handle the quirks of their
fields and lengthy travel nent. new league and its enor-
more quickly than others, “I thought it would be more mous geographic footprint.
the big names are back difficult to move to New For instance, the North
for the start of the league’s York and live there, but ac- American summer heat is
21st season this weekend, tually it was really easy,” the tradeoff for avoiding
all determined to justify said Pirlo, the revered frigid European winters,
their hefty contracts with Italian midfielder who ar- and only mad dogs and
improved play. rived near midseason. “I Englishmen go outside in
The game is a challenge, picked a rather quiet area a Texas summer without
but the lifestyle is a dream of Manhattan to live, and preparation.
for Gerrard and Pirlo, who it was very easy to adjust “When I turned up here, I
have embraced their op- because with my lifestyle, didn’t know there was hu-
midity in Houston,” Gerrard
said. “I didn’t know there
was altitude in Salt Lake.
There was a lot about the
league that was a bit of a
shock to me at the time.”
A multi-hour flight to a
road game is usually only
a Champions League
problem in Europe, but it’s
a regular occurrence in
MLS. Rather than chafing
against the travel chal-
lenge, some stars choose
to embrace it as part of the
lifestyle they’ve chosen.
“Part of the experience for
me coming here is to travel
and see places the way
we did last season,” said
Lampard, the longtime
Chelsea star. “Vancouver
was fascinating for me. As
a player, you have to over-
come the difficult sides of
it, preparing for the game
and getting off the plane
after a long journey, but I
like it.”
Giovinco made the great-
Ducks set new straight games mark
The Associated Press 2013-14 team’s winning Palat, Nikita Kucherov and
GLENDALE, Arizona (AP) streak despite injured cap- Steven Stamkos — into an
— Corey Perry had a goal tain Ryan Getzlaf’s ab- empty net — scored for the
and two assists and Jamie sence. Lightning, who wrapped
McGinn and Rickard Rakell Anthony Duclair scored, up a four-game road trip.
scored on Anaheim’s first and Niklas Treutle allowed Marc Methot scored the
two shots as the Ducks tied five goals on 16 shots in his lone goal for the Ottawa
a franchise record with their first NHL start for the Coy- Senators. Andrew Ham-
10th straight victory, rout- otes in their seventh straight mond, making his first start
ing Arizona 5-1 on Thursday loss. since February 11, made 25
night. LIGHTNING 4, SENATORS 1 saves.
Cam Fowler and Josh OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — PENGUINS 4, RANGERS 1
Manson also scored, and Ben Bishop made 33 saves PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sid-
Frederik Andersen stopped as the Tampa Bay Lightning ney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
27 shots as Anaheim stayed tied a franchise record with and Patric Hornqvist each
atop the Pacific Division. their eighth straight victory. scored in the final 2:13 of
The Ducks matched the Cedric Paquette, Ondrej the second period, lead-
got an Italian star in his os-
tensible prime. The 5-foot-
4 scorer was even better
than expected during his
MVP season, even though
he needed about six weeks
to adjust to the time chang-
es and long flights.
“At the moment, a lot of
my friends are calling me,”
Giovinco said. “They want
to come here and play in
the MLS, but unfortunately
that’s not my call. I can’t
sign them up. The MLS
game is growing. Everyone
in Europe looks at MLS in a
different way.”
When they arrived at mid-
season, Pirlo and Gerrard
didn’t immediately stand
out among the best play-
ers in MLS, as Giovinco or
Drogba did.
While Pirlo had periods
of effective playmaking
in midfield, he also strug-
gled at times in 13 goal-
less games while NYCFC
missed the playoffs. Ger-
rard scored in his debut,
but also searched for top
form and connections with
his new teammates.
Both expect to improve
this year after a full training
camp with their new clubs
and their added familiar-
ity with their exciting new
world.
“Coming to Los Angeles
was fine for me, and set-
tling in off the pitch is not
a problem,” Gerrard said.
“It’s just a shame that press
don’t grade you on perfor-
mance off the pitch, be-
cause I’d be getting 10 out
of 10.”
ing the Pittsburgh Penguins
past the New York Rangers.
Malkin added two assists
and Phil Kessel scored into
an empty net for the Pen-
guins, who frustrated Rang-
ers goaltender Henrik Lun-
dqvist midway through the
second and chased him
with a three-goal flurry at
the end of the period.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped
27 shots for the Penguins
and is one away from be-
coming the 20th goalie in
NHL history to reach 350
wins.