(CNN) When some of world football's biggest stars talk, you pay attention.

On the eve of the 24th Major League Soccer season, a storyline which would have beggared belief just two years ago -- namely, what did you make of Atlanta United winning MLS Cup? -- is not only relevant but a question that simply had to be put to the star names plying their trade in North America.

In 2014, the year Atlanta United was awarded a place at the top table of America soccer -- the inaugural season was in 2017 -- some sneered that the sport could never truly take off in a town where the other kind of football would forever dominate.

And while the likes of the Atlanta Falcons and the state of Georgia's college football teams are of course a big deal, the new kids on the block have taken to life in MLS as if they had been part of the league from day one.

A playoff appearance in Atlanta United's first season arguably confounded expectations, but the early exit simply solidified the passion from a fanatical fanbase, who wanted more from a side who would play to more than 70,000 of these soccer savvy supporters, when the magnificent Mercedes-Benz Stadium was open to its fullest capacity. Attendance records have fallen, as have many of the opposing teams.

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