USA

Up and down both Canada and the United States, there's a whole host of cities clamoring for a place in Major League Soccer. The love of the sport is growing with every passing day, and it's no surprise that everyone wants a piece of the action.

However, not every location has what it takes to participate in one of the fastest growing leagues in the world. Whether it's stature, popularity or overall appeal, not many places can touch these five when it comes to having the potential necessary for a long-lasting MLS club.

It’s been a difficult debut season in the Bundesliga for USMNT striker Bobby Wood. His team, Hamburger SV, are the only club to have played in every season of the Bundesliga since its foundation, but they’ve spent the entire season mired at the bottom of the table.

With only 10 points from 15 matches, Hamburger’s struggles have been mirrored in Wood’s play. The American hadn’t scored since September 10, but he finally scored his third goal of the season against Mainz on Saturday.

DaMarcus Beasley has been invited to the USMNT’s January camp, a glorified workout for MLS-based players and an opportunity for the national coaching staff to monitor them in an otherwise overlong offseason, and that’s really funny for people who seem to have a particular agenda. 

Crystal Dunn, Tobin Heath, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, and Becky Sauerbrunn were all nominees for 2016 Female Player of the Year. Tobin Heath beat out all of her USWNT teammates and took home the title.

No one is going to argue that the MLS waiver draft is a sexy part of the off-season. The league, and especially Seattle, is still not recovered from the MLS Cup. Then Tuesday brought the exciting expansion draft as two new franchises grow the league in 2017. So even in an active year for the waiver draft, it isn’t a marquee event of its own week. This edition, though, might have been the saddest of MLS draft events. 

MLS is perpetually trying to prove itself by signing star players, battling other American sports for media coverage and comparing itself against leagues around the world that've been around since the turn of the 20th century. This year’s MLS Cup brought together a near perfect matchup on paper, and the television numbers responded accordingly. 

The citizens of Seattle are celebrating the Sounders' triumphant victory over Toronto FC in the MLS Cup final Saturday. This is Seattle's first MLS Cup win, and the party is going strong.

For one trolley driver in the Sounders' victory parade, the party was going a little too strong.

The journey of a new MLS franchise is a unique path. Most major American sports leagues very rarely expand, while around the world clubs are typically a century old or start out, domestically, at the lowest level. However, in the world of MLS, the creation of a roster ready for the season-opener is a series of hoops and hurdles. Tuesday marked a quick burst of roster depth for both Minnesota United FC and Atlanta United through the MLS Expansion Draft. 

Stanford have repeated as NCAA College Cup champions by defeating Wake Forest in penalties. A scoreless encounter in Houston gave way to penalties, Stanford goalkeeper Andrew Epstein proving to be the hero with two big saves to win the shootout 5-4.

The first half showcased the talents of Stanford goalkeeper Epstein. The redshirt junior was voted to the NCAA Division I Men’s All-America second team on Friday, and he came up with two big saves in the first half to deny both Jon Bakero and Ian Harkes.