* In 2005, SUM took over the marketing and staging of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the regional championship held every two years for all national teams in North and Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament last month drew close to half a million fans, with five games involving Mexico each attracting crowds of larger than 50,000.
* Gulati, in March 2006, was elected president of U.S. Soccer, becoming the first Spanish-speaker to hold the post. This has greatly eased communication at the highest level between the federation and its southern counterparts. Gulati's wife, Marcela, is from Mexico, and their two children are bilingual.
* In June, the U.S. participated in the Copa America for the first time in 12 years, and although its performance in Venezuela left much to be desired, the willingness to compete against the South Americans is seen as a plus because of the top-flight competition.
This month, MLS announced the creation of a 16-member Latin American Advisory Board, featuring former World Cup stars Teofilo "Nene" Cubillas of Peru, Marcelo Balboa and Fernando Clavijo of the U.S., Claudio Suarez and Monica Gonzalez of Mexico and other South and Central Americans from the coaching and media ranks.
Also this month, U.S. Soccer announced the addition of California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) to its 15-member board of directors as the second of three independent directors. Nunez, along with longtime Goldman Sachs Group partner Carlos Cordeiro, who joined the board in February, will bring a Latino perspective to the table.
When MLS began play in 1996, the league featured many Latino players, including such soon-to-be-soccer-household names as Hugo Sanchez (now Mexico's coach), Leonel Alvarez, Jorge Campos, Marco Etcheverry, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Raul Diaz Arce, Jaime Moreno and Carlos Valderrama.
It then drifted slightly away from that path, but with this season's acquisition of such players as Argentine playmaker Guillermo Barros Schelotto by the Columbus Crew, Colombian striker Juan Pablo Angel by the New York Red Bulls, Mexican forward/midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco by the Chicago Fire and Colombian midfielder Juan Toja by FC Dallas, MLS seems to be rediscovering its roots.
"The real driver of soccer interest in this country has been . . . the Latino fan, primarily the Mexican American fan, who loves this game and cares about it and brings to this country a passion for their teams back home and also for their national team," Garber said.
