November 21, 2022 – Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) News Release
Today’s indoor soccer history quiz:
What do Landon Donovan, Carlos Alberto and Kaz Deyna have in common?
Answer:
They have played indoor soccer in North America and made their mark in the World Cup.
Donovan performed with the San Diego Sockers during the 2019 Major Arena Soccer League season after a storied outdoor career with the U.S. men’s national team and several club sides, including the LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes (Major League Soccer).
Carlos Alberto, who captained Brazil to the 1970 World Cup championship, saw action with the New York Cosmos for one indoor season.
And Deyna, who starred for the Sockers for several championship seasons, played an important part of Poland’s third-place finish at the 1974 World Cup while winning after winning the 1972 Olympic gold medal.
With the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar set for Nov. 19, we’re going to take a look at some 35 players, one referee, and one player turned assistant coach, that have been on rosters in what many soccer observers claim is truly The Greatest Show on Earth.
Most of those players competed in the first incarnation of the Major Indoor Soccer League a couple of generations ago, when the league was the only viable professional league in the United States in which players could earn a living.
Four players have competed in the MASL and another in M2.
Here is the growing list of individuals, many from Canada, Mexico and the United States, who have been to a World Cup:
MASL
Landon Donovan (2002, 2006, 2010)
If you don’t know who he is, then shame on you. Donovan enjoyed a fabulous career for club and country. For the USMNT, Donovan is the all-time World Cup leader with five goals, including the dramatic score he recorded in the waning minutes of the 1-0 victory over Algeria at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He won a record six MLS Cups. The league’s MVP award is named after him. He is Major League Soccer’s all-time scoring leader and is tied with Clint Dempsey on the U.S. men’s national career goals list with 57 goals apiece. Donovan, who has scored 145 goals and assisted on an MLS-record 123 tallies. In 2019, Donovan played some indoor soccer for the Sockers, scoring five goals in eight appearances.
Guillermo Franco (2006, 2010)
A naturalized Mexican citizen who was born in Argentina, Franco was a forward for El Tri in consecutive World Cups. He competed in only home matches for the Monterrey Flash in 2014-15,…