MLS’ first-ever game was 29 years ago Sunday, and evidence of the league’s growth was all over the field as the San Jose Earthquakes reprised their inaugural matchup with DC United
MLS’ first-ever game was 29 years ago Sunday, and evidence of the league’s growth was all over the field as the San Jose Earthquakes reprised their inaugural matchup with DC United
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SAN JOSE — Twenty-nine years ago to the day, the San Jose Clash made history, facing off against DC United in Major League Soccer’s first game at Spartan Stadium.
The Clash won that game 1-0 with an 87th-minute bending goal by Eric Wynalda. But no such theatrics were needed when the now-Earthquakes and United faced off on Sunday afternoon in San Jose, marking the 30th year of MLS with a rematch of the league’s debut contest.
In front of 14,196 fans at PayPal Park, the Quakes celebrated three decades of the United States’ top soccer league with a 6-1 win over DC. The only high drama this time came when Josef Martinez, San Jose’s prized offseason acquisition, notched a hat trick in the second minute of second-half stoppage time, putting a bow on a commanding victory for the home Quakes.
When MLS started up on April 9, 1996, the league had ten charter franchises and no soccer-specific stadiums. Today, if an MLS game is played away from a soccer ground, it’s usually moved to a bigger venue for a showcase match.
Earthquakes manager Bruce Arena was the DC United coach at that first game, and he remembers a very different MLS on the day it got off the ground.
“The field is a hell of a lot better than the one at Spartan Stadium,” Arena said. “No one was running into walls (today). I think the field was like 60 yards wide. It had a big crown on it.
“But that was the start to the league. In a lot of ways, we didn’t know any better. So that’s progress. You look at some of these stadiums and facilities in the league today, it’s fantastic. And I would imagine we’re going to continue to have some kind of expansion, probably to a smaller degree, and finally be settled into a plan as to how we move forward after the World Cup and all. But it’s been a real challenge.”
If the league is looking for showcases, it stumbled into a pretty good one on Sunday. Though the matchup was one-sided, it showed in several ways how far MLS has come.
Martinez, a Venezuelan international, has been one of MLS’ brightest stars and one of many who have chosen to devote their prime years to the league. Every player who scored in Sunday’s match – San Jose’s Cristian Espinoza (Argentina), Chicho Arango (Colombia), Amahl Pellegrino (Norway) and DC United’s Christian Benteke (Democratic Republic of the Congo) – was an international transplant.
“It’s amazing,” Martinez said. “Coming in 2017, 2018, today, it’s another league. The level – the teams come here to fight, to compete, and they bring important players in every day. Every game is a battle. But I’m so happy to be here in this league for a long time. I’m happy to be in San Jose, and we look forward to seeing the team keep going.”
Espinoza, San Jose’s captain, made individual history of his own in the 20th minute, converting a penalty kick to put the Earthquakes up 3-0. The goal was Espinoza’s 33rd in a San Jose uniform, bypassing U.S. soccer legend Landon Donovan, who won two MLS Cup championships with the Quakes, for fourth in franchise history.
During his playing days, Donovan was one of the few marketable stars that MLS could fall back on. Today, the league is the home of Lionel Messi, regarded as possibly the best player ever, and a galaxy of domestic and international superstars.
“We knew that it was such an important game,” Espinoza said. “For us, the most important thing was to keep things the same way that they started – the win stays in San Jose. That was our mentality for today.
“Since 2019 when I arrived here, the league has been growing a lot in so many things. The league is bringing a lot of young talent. Young talents are coming to this league to take the next step, maybe to Europe or somewhere else in the world. That is really important for us, having the league doing that instead of just bringing big stars over at the end of their careers.”
Twenty-nine years of MLS have come and gone. So what will the next 29 look like?
The man who was at ground zero for its genesis foresees even bigger things ahead.
“An NFL owner told me that he thinks in 20 years that the MLS could surpass the NFL,” Arena said. “I think that was more related to maybe a safety issue than anything, because of some of the issues they’ve had. Would I bet the house on that? No.
“But it’s an indication that the sport has been accepted in this country. Now, everyone’s bought into the sport. I think (David) Beckham helped it for sure. But soccer is recognized as a major sport. Now, in our country, there’s five majors, and not four anymore. That’s a positive. We’re making progress.”