Australian striker Mark Viduka, for example, scored 72 goals in just 166 appearances for Leeds United in the English Premier League. Harry Kewell, his countryman and running mate at Leeds, scored some of the most breathtaking goals ever seen in the English Premier League. Kewell joined the A-League in 2011, and although he's since taken temporary leave from playing, he is expected to return next season. Viduka retired as a player in 2009, but was named Melbourne Victory's international ambassador.

Kewell returned to Australia at just the right time, and—along with other successful Australian players like Lucas Neil, Ned Zelic, world-class goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, and Viduka, who became an ambassador to Melbourne Victory—inspired younger players to help propel the soccer movement forward.* This ultimately led to an important shift in the nation's soccer culture: The best local talents not only expanded their skill sets, but were then valued on the international market and earned the respect of the folks at home. It's crucial, then, that the MLS and the USMNT scour high and low to unearth similar American talent, and in numbers—so that collectively they can bolster the sport's reputation at home.

Prodigal Stars

Finding talented homegrown players is one thing—but keeping them is another. Currently, the best American soccer players seek careers overseas where they can earn big money. So U.S. soccer has a two-part problem on its hands: It must retain more top talent in the MLS, such as Real Salt Lake's Kyle Beckerman and Portland's Jack Jewsbury, but also make the MLS an attractive enough prospect for those ambitious sons to return home. These players' endorsement of the Chicago Fire, or Sporting Kansas City, or Houston Dynamo, would spur interest in those towns individually and for the game overall.

So it's important that American players want to stay at home, and they'd be more likely to do so if there were high-caliber international stars and coaches to compete against, as well as more innovative on-field strategies to throw themselves into. Such incentives led to Kewell returning to Australia and signing with the Melbourne Victory, and Lucas Neil doing the same with Sydney FC this season. Mark Bresciano, one of Australia's best attacking talents, has also hinted at an A-League stint when he finishes playing in the Qatar Stars League.

Rivalry and Revolution

American sports fans are diverse, but one thing that binds them is a hunger for action. It's understandable, then, that defensive, scoreless affairs infuriate most casual observers. And yet, a heated encounter between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins in the National Hockey League might yield few shots and even fewer goals, and still draw Americans to the box. This is why rivalries are so important: They amplify passions and legitimize a league's schedule with fixtures that need to be circled in red. We only need to observe Spain's famous El Clásico clashes between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona to realize the value of such a duel.