(NEXSTAR) – While it isn’t possible to buy a car that is 100% made in the U.S., a new ranking from Cars.com breaks down the most – and least – American-manufactured cars in 2025.
While the site has compiled its America-Made Index for more than a decade, President Trump’s announcement of tariffs on foreign-made vehicles has created keen interest in just how “American” a car is.
The Cars.com analysis assigned scores based on five factors: percentage of U.S. and Canadian parts, location of final assembly, country of origins for available engines, U.S. manufacturing workforce and country of origin for available transmissions.
“Being on this list is crucial as the auto industry becomes more and more global and consumers’ desire to use their dollars to support their neighbors increases,” the report states. “No matter where a vehicle ranks, simply being on the list means it has some component of final assembly in the U.S., ultimately still contributing to the U.S. economy.”
At the top of the ranking was the Model 3 by Tesla, which has factories in California and Texas, among other sites. At the bottom of the ranking, in 99th place, was the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, which fell from the 65th spot in the 2024 ranking.
The top 20 most-American cars, according to Cars.com, are:
Despite President Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported cars and parts, the widely-feared spike in car lot prices has not yet materialized.
Car shoppers paid $48,799 on average in May, which was $12 less than in April, according to Kelley Blue Book (KBB). Experts don’t expect that trend to last, however.
“Price hikes are coming slowly in part because many dealerships keep months’ worth of new vehicles in stock, so they still have cars to sell that they imported at pre-tariff prices,” according to KBB reporter Sean Tucker.
Tucker wrote that Trump’s tariff announcement prompted a flood of early car sales as buyers tried to snatch up the vehicles already on lots in the U.S., but that wave of sales has ended. Discounts offered by major automakers are also starting to fall off.
So if the tariffs remain in place, experts suggest that now may still be a good time to buy a car.
“So far there’s a mismatch between the expectation of what would happen, and the reality of what has happened with prices,” Ivan Drury, director of insights at Edmunds.com told CNN. “But I still think we’re still going to prices start to take off in two to three months.”
The Irish government has initiated the sale of its remaining 2% stake in the Irish lender AIB Group through an accelerated bookbuild transaction.
This step is part of a broader strategy to return the banking sector to private ownership.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said: “The State has launched a final sell down of its directed shareholding in AIB by way of an accelerated bookbuild transaction. This ABB transaction represents our seventh such disposal in AIB and will reduce the State’s directed shareholding in the bank to zero. This is an important milestone in delivering on the government’s policy of returning the banking sector to private ownership.”
In the aftermath of a property crash in the late 2000s, Ireland injected €64bn ($73.8bn) into its banks, which amounted to nearly 40% of its annual economic output at the time, reported Reuters.
Despite the massive bailout, two of the banks still failed. AIB received the lion’s share of the remaining funds, amounting to €21bn, and as of last month, the state’s return from the bank stood at €19.2bn.
The bank is also in discussions to repurchase stock warrants held by the government, as per Reuters.
The government still holds a 57% stake in Permanent TSB, which it plans to sell to complete its exit from the sector. This follows the sale of its shares in Bank of Ireland, AIB’s main competitor, in 2022.
While it is unlikely that Dublin will fully recover the costs of the AIB bailout, Donohoe noted last month that the state had already surpassed the break-even point on its €29.4bn investment in the three banks. This was primarily due to the recovery of €6.7bn from the €4.7bn injected into Bank of Ireland.
Following the sale of its Bank of Ireland shares, the government lifted a €500,000 pay cap for the bank, after a review of the sector’s pay restrictions. However, the pay cap remains in place for AIB and Permanent TSB.
“Ireland launches sale of final stake in AIB Group” was originally created and published by Retail Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.
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Microsoft’s Copilot advertising has been criticized by an industry watchdog for its productivity claims and confusing use of Copilot branding. The Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division (NAD) has reviewed Microsoft’s Copilot advertising, and recommended that the software giant discontinues or modifies productivity claims about Microsoft 365 Copilot and more clearly disclose the limitations of its Business Chat feature.
Microsoft has been claiming that Copilot has productivity and return on investment (ROI) benefits for businesses that adopt the AI assistant, including that “67%, 70%, and 75% of users say they are more productive” after a certain amount of Copilot usage. “NAD found that although the study demonstrates a perception of productivity, it does not provide a good fit for the objective claim at issue,” says the watchdog in its review. “As a result, NAD recommended the claim be discontinued or modified to disclose the basis for the claim.”
Alongside the recommended productivity advertising changes, NAD also suggests that users of Copilot could be confused by Microsoft’s wide use of the Copilot branding across multiple products — including Business Chat. “NAD concluded, based on the context of the claims and universal use of the product description as ‘Copilot,‘ that consumers would not necessarily understand the differences.” NAD has recommended that Microsoft now “modify its advertising to clearly and conspicuously disclose any material limitations related to how Business Chat assists users.”
Microsoft has had years of confusing branding for Copilot. Microsoft relaunched its Copilot for business with free AI chat and pay-as-you-go agents earlier this year, in an attempt to simplify some of its branding woes. Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat as it’s known now, started off as Bing Chat Enterprise before Microsoft then rebranded it, confusingly, to just Copilot. Somewhere in the middle of all this rebranding, Business Chat — which was originally a chatbot in Teams — is now Business Chat for Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Microsoft says it disagrees with NAD’s conclusions, but that it “will follow NAD’s recommendations for clarifying its claims.” Hopefully that means that Copilot branding is going to be clearer in the future.
With Victor Wembanyama in China for nearly two weeks learning more about himself, according to a source, the San Antonio Spurs hope the Frenchman returns to a tweaked roster poised to end a six-year postseason drought.
Rife with assets — two lottery picks (No. 2 and No. 14) and an additional three future tradeable first-round picks, not to mention controllable contracts — San Antonio could strike a deal to land an All-Star-level player. But whether the team wants to deviate from its long-term plan for building sustainability is still being decided with a week before the 2025 NBA draft begins (June 25-26, 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN).
The Spurs pushed their long-term plan into motion back in 2020 to land Wembanyama.
“We want to build something that’s sustainable. You’ve got to build it brick by brick,” general manager Brian Wright said last June after drafting eventual NBA Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle with the No. 4 pick, then Rob Dillingham at No. 8, before trading him to Minnesota for a 2031 first-rounder and a 2030 pick swap. “All the decisions that we’ve made to this point have kind of been under that premise.”
But will it continue as the Spurs are coming off the league’s eighth-worst record (34-48), stocked with draft capital?
It’s likely to, despite San Antonio fielding inquiries from teams looking to trade up to No. 2, while two future Hall of Famers — Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant — could become available in potential trades. The Spurs haven’t held any substantive discussions regarding the former, according to sources, and Phoenix’s asking price might be too steep for a franchise looking to remain cautious during the early years of Wembanyama’s career.
Still, Durant presents an opportunity, potentially at a lower cost (likely the No. 14 pick and Devin Vassell or Keldon Johnson and Harrison Barnes) for San Antonio to add an experienced sharpshooting wing with championship pedigree. Wembanyama has long admired Durant’s game, and said he’d like to learn more from the two-time champion. In an interview with M6 Info, Wembanyama said he spoke with Durant after the gold medal game at the Paris Olympics in 2024 between the U.S. and France, and told the former MVP that “I wanted to learn from him and perhaps steal one or two of his secret techniques.” The Spurs’ young squad could benefit from Durant’s tutelage and practice acumen. Those types of Insights are not lost on former coach Gregg Popovich, now San Antonio’s president of basketball operations who worked with the 18-year NBA veteran during their time together on Team USA and wants to give new coach Mitch Johnson plenty of talent, including one who can help develop camaraderie.
“He’s not special because he’s so talented,” Popovich said of Durant in 2021. “The way he works on his game is more impressive. The joy he has in playing, it’s like osmosis.”
San Antonio will have plenty of competition for Durant’s services but don’t count on a bidding war. The Spurs aren’t likely to relinquish the No. 2 pick for Durant because, according to sources, it’s expected they’ll draft Dylan Harper to add to a talented young core featuring Wembanyama and Castle.
With the French phenom entering his third season, and Castle in Year 2, San Antonio finds itself on solid footing financially to take a big swing on Durant or in free agency, even with De’Aaron Fox‘s contract extension due soon. As it stands now, San Antonio is $33 million below the tax and $37 million below the first apron.
In addition to surrounding Wembanyama with better shooters, San Antonio needs to find a backup point guard in the draft or free agency, in addition to a big man to back him up. Depth at center was virtually nonexistent last season after San Antonio traded Zach Collins in the Fox deal, leaving Charles Bassey, who was limited to 36 games because of injuries.
As the Spurs assess their options, all while keeping their long-term goals at the forefront of their decision-making, myself, Jeremy Woo, Kevin Pelton and Bobby Marks dig into how the franchise should approach the draft. We will go deeper into three trade options — and offer a verdict. — Michael C. Wright
More on Spurs’ lottery picks
Although there has been plenty of discussion since lottery night around what the Spurs should do at No. 2, San Antonio is well aware of its good fortune after its pick jumped six spots and has not rushed into trade discussions.
The organization appears comfortable with selecting Harper, who most teams consider the draft’s second-best prospect behind Duke’s Cooper Flagg. The question of fit with Fox and Castle is something the Spurs seem comfortable figuring out on the fly, but the prospect of adding another top talent in Harper on a rookie contract provides flexibility as they continue to surround Wembanyama with players who will help elevate his game. Most teams around the NBA expect San Antonio to draft the 6-foot-6 Rutgers guard.
But the No. 14 pick is where the Spurs will explore their options, whether that’s drafting another young player who complements their core roster, or trading it to add veteran talent or extract some other form of value. Carter Bryant, Noa Essengue and Joan Beringer are among the players who should be considered by the Spurs with their second lottery pick. — Jeremy Woo
Trade offer No. 1: Giannis for a bevy of players, future picks
Milwaukee Bucks get: Forwards Harrison Barnes, Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan, the No. 2 pick, 2026 first-round pick (better of Atlanta and San Antonio), 2028 first-round pick (better of Boston and San Antonio), 2030 first-round pick (better of Dallas, Minnesota and San Antonio), 2031 swap (Milwaukee’s for better of Sacramento’s and San Antonio’s)
Spurs get: Giannis Antetokounmpo
San Antonio is well-positioned to build an Antetokounmpo offer around picks based on the combination of moving up to No. 2 and having future swaps. Instead of relying on the Spurs’ own picks, likely to come at the end of the round, the Bucks would be able to bet against a variety of teams bottoming out.
In particular, the 2030 first-rounder looks especially valuable because it’s the best of three teams — albeit with top-one protection on the swap with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Milwaukee also gets a recent lottery pick in Sochan and players who could keep the team competitive with no draft incentive for the Bucks to tank.
By giving up three rotation players plus the No. 2 pick, San Antonio would compromise its depth. But the Spurs would have time to continue reshaping the roster around a fearsome frontcourt duo of Antetokounmpo and Wembanyama with Castle and Fox in the backcourt. — Kevin Pelton
Trade offer No. 2: Spurs move players, 2025 No. 14 pick for Durant
Phoenix Suns get: Guards Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley, forwards Harrison Barnes and Keldon Johnson, 2025 No. 14 pick, 2027 first-round pick (via Hawks)
Spurs get: Durant
Given Antetokounmpo hasn’t requested a trade, Durant is a more realistic target for San Antonio. The Spurs must weigh whether adding an aging star who will be 36 by 2025-26 opening night to a team led by the 21-year-old Wembanyama makes sense, and whether it would be worth taking themselves out of the mix for Antetokounmpo down the road.
On the flip side, Durant’s age and looming free agency (he has one year left on his contract) mean San Antonio wouldn’t necessarily need to dip as heavily into the team’s stockpile of future picks to add him. Wright recently proposed a trade built around Vassell, but I would prioritize keeping his shooting even if it costs more draft picks.
This offer gives up the No. 14 pick in this year’s draft and the other unprotected pick the Spurs have coming from the Atlanta Hawks via the Dejounte Murray trade. By splitting up Durant’s salary, it saves Phoenix about $12 million in 2025-26 salary, with the potential of additional savings by moving some of these players to other teams. — Pelton
Trade offer No. 3: Spurs get pick No. 27, players for Cam Johnson
Brooklyn Nets get: Guard Malaki Branham, forward Keldon Johnson, 2025 No. 14 pick, 2029 first-round pick (top-four protected, converts to two second-round picks if not conveyed)
Alternatively, San Antonio could look to deal for a non-star who might better complement the team’s existing talent. Johnson looks like an ideal fit. He averaged a career-high 18.8 points last season and has been a consistent 39% 3-point shooter who would space the floor as a stretch 4 alongside Wembanyama.
Swapping Keldon Johnson for Cam Johnson would have little impact on the Spurs’ cap sheet and, crucially, wouldn’t affect the team’s ability to trade for Antetokounmpo down the road. If needed, Keldon Johnson could either be included in that deal or sent elsewhere for value, given his cap-friendly contract and skill set that works for almost any team.
This proposal offers the Nets a swap up from No. 27 to No. 14 in this year’s draft — a difference equivalent to getting a late first-rounder according to my pick value chart — along with a lightly protected 2029 pick. San Antonio would retain its highest-value picks and swaps coming from other teams during Wembanyama’s prime years. — Pelton
Among those trade offers, this one fits the best
ESPN’s Bobby Marks picks the most realistic of the trades and explains why or why not this could be feasible:
The Oklahoma City Thunder‘s move to acquire Alex Caruso last June taught us that a trade can have a significant impact even if an All-Star is not coming back. And though Durant and Antetokounmpo sound enticing, especially when considering the Spurs’ roster still has Wembanyama, Fox and Castle, trading for Cam Johnson fits the ideal timeline for basketball reasons and opportunistic cost.
Because Johnson’s salary next season is half of what is owed to Durant and Antetokounmpo, the Spurs do not have to gut their roster, trading only two players, Branham and Keldon Johnson.
If Durant or even Antetokounmpo are still available, San Antonio would still have enough tradeable contracts and draft assets even after landing Cam Johnson. The Spurs not only retain the No. 2 pick in this draft, but also pick up a late first-round pick from the Nets. They would also retain the most valuable draft asset of their collection, a 2027 unprotected first from Atlanta.
Cher was 18 when she married 29-year-old Salvatore “Sonny” Bono on Oct. 27, 1964, and they divorced just six years later—but the entity that was Sonny & Cher endured.
At one point, more than 30 million people were tuning in weekly to watch the “I Got You Babe” singers yuk it up on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour—height jokes directed at 5-foot-5 Sonny always killed—and the couple sold more than 40 million records. Which is why they kept performing together even after their divorce in 1975.
Though if she could turn back time, it’s unclear whether she would have married Sonny all over again, describing him in her memoir as growing increasingly controlling, unfaithful and, at times, abusive as he struggled with a painkiller addiction.
“I don’t know if it was love-hate, but it was rough,” Cher told USA Todayin November 2024. “It was really, really rough.”
“I didn’t understand him,” Cher continued, “and I was hurt and angry, but it was more hurt because I couldn’t understand, why would you do this? And in the end, in that last year, I just thought, I don’t think I can do this much longer because it’s killing me.”
Sonny, who was divorced from Donna Rankin when he married Cher, went on to marry twice more. He served as mayor of Palm Springs, Calif., from 1988 until1992 and then was elected to Congress in 1995, representing California’s 44th district. He was 62 when he died in a skiing accident in 1998, and his fourth wife Mary Bono won his U.S. House seat in a special election.
The mayor’s plan involves the diversion of 16 bus routes that use Oxford Street
Plans to pedestrianise parts of Oxford Street will move forward “as quickly as possible”, the mayor of London has said.
City Hall claims two thirds of people support the principle of banning traffic on one of the world’s busiest streets, with Sir Sadiq Khan adding that “urgent action is needed to give our nation’s high street a new lease of life”.
Vehicles would be banned from a 0.7-mile (1.1km) stretch between Oxford Circus and Marble Arch, with further potential changes towards Tottenham Court Road.
Adam Hug, Westminster City Council’s Labour leader, said the plan “was not the council’s preferred outcome” but “it is now important for Oxford Street’s future to move forward together”.
Detailed proposals for traffic on Oxford Street, which sees an average of half a million visitors each day, will be consulted on later this year.
‘Elephant in the room’
Tim Lord, chair of the Soho Society, said key questions remained unanswered, including about “traffic diversion and the impact of moving 16 bus routes into narrow, congested one-way streets in Marylebone and Fitzrovia”.
He said: “No convincing plan has ever been presented; London is already a very slow city and will get worse.
“The elephant in the room is that Oxford Street’s problems are to do with the quality and attractiveness of the retail offering, which is diminished by rents which are too high and which only ever increase.”
He added that there were questions about bicycles and “equality of access for bus and taxi users” and “people with kids and heavy shopping or with mobility restrictions”.
PA Media
Only one of these forms of transport would be permitted
A previous consultation showed support for the scheme from local business owners (19%) and residents (34%) lagged behind visitors (62%).
In 2022, the same council was widely mocked for a doomed attempt to entice visitors back to the area with the Marble Arch Mound, which opened incomplete, over budget and led to resignations.
The mayor’s latest proposals depend on him obtaining permission from Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner in her role as secretary of state for housing, communities and local government to establish a new mayoral development corporation, which would provide planning powers.
Sir Sadiq said: “We want to rejuvenate Oxford Street; establish it as a global leader for shopping, leisure and outdoor events with a world-class, accessible, pedestrianised avenue.
“This will help to attract more international visitors and act as a magnet for new investment and job creation, driving growth and economic prosperity for decades to come.”
‘Roared back to life’
Mr Hug said: “Since the mayor’s new approach was made public last autumn, Westminster has worked pragmatically and productively with the Greater London Authority to ensure that the plan for Oxford Street more closely meets the needs of businesses, visitors and residents.
“Since 2022, Oxford Street has roared back to life after the pandemic. Such is the level of retail confidence that existing brands have spent £118m refitting their stores in the last 12 months alone, according to Savills.”
City Hall Conservative Alessandro Georgiou AM said: “We are concerned that the mayor is driving coach and horses through the plan drawn up by Westminster Conservatives, which had the popular support of residents and businesses, in order to secure himself even a shred of a positive legacy after last week’s disastrous Spending Review.
“The mayor’s polling claims to show how strongly Londoners feel about this issue, but he has yet to make a cogent case for why he needs to take power away from local councils in order to achieve this rather than working with them.
“We will continue to hold the mayor to account on his empty proposals, and encourage him to be clearer with the public about the impacts on congestion, public safety and disabled access, as well as how much his plans will cost.”
The Democrat who’s faced off against Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) twice and came within 1,000 voters of ousting her last year has announced she’ll try to defeat the incumbent a third time.
Christina Bohannan, who formerly served in the Iowa State House, launched her third straight campaign for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District on Tuesday, seeking to build on her 2024 performance in which she nearly pulled off an upset. Bohannan said Miller-Meeks has had “three chances to do right by the people of Iowa” in her three House times but accused her of putting “partisan politics over Iowans.”
“From cutting Medicaid, to siding with DOGE’s devastating cuts to Social Security, to enabling unelected, unaccountable billionaires like Elon Musk – Miller-Meeks has forgotten about us,” Bohannan said. “It’s time someone put Iowa first.”
Bohannan first ran for the House in 2022 but lost to Miller-Meeks by 7 points. But she ran in one of the closest races of the 2024 cycle last year in a rematch, losing by less than two tenths of a point in a contest that went to a recount.
Her campaign noted that she outraised Miller-Meeks by $1.4 million last cycle and outperformed the Democratic presidential ticket by 8.2 points, more than any other candidate facing an incumbent Republican that the national party targeted.
It argued her performance forced Cook Political Report and other election analysts to consider the race a toss-up heading into next year.
The seat could be key as Democrats seek to win back control of the House, where they currently have a narrow minority.
Ecuador’s Ministry of Mining has unveiled plans to relaunch the National Mining Cadastre, a registry of mining concessions, for the first time since 2013, according to a report by Reuters.
The move is part of a broader strategy to attract investment to the country’s mining sector and clamp down on illegal operations.
The previous concession system was closed in 2018 amid concerns over irregularities. Since then, no new mining concessions have been granted.
Ecuador’s large-scale mining development has been slower than Andean neighbours such as Peru and Chile, despite its considerable mineral resources, partly due to resistance from indigenous communities and unfavourable court decisions.
In 2022, the country’s mining exports surpassed $3bn, mainly from copper, gold and silver.
Mining Minister Ines Manzano was quoted as saying during a press conference: “Mining needs regulation to secure investments and promote development that is responsible with the environment and with communities.”
The registry will be reopened in phases, starting with small-scale non-metallic mining, which includes materials such as limestone and clay, essential for cement and ceramics.
This phase will begin immediately, with mining concessions set to open in September. The full registry, including other mining types, is scheduled to open at the start of 2026.
Manzano highlighted the importance of the National Mining Cadastre in consolidating information on mining concessions with transparency and efficiency.
The reopening is aligned with new regulations regarding request permits for small-scale non-metallic mining.
“We have improved the regulations and will issue guidelines that enable the proper development of the mining value chain,” Manzano added.
President Daniel Noboa, committed to combatting drug trafficking and bolstering the economy, mandated the registry’s revival last October as part of a comprehensive mining decree.
This decree includes measures to curb the proliferation of illegal gold mining.
However, the Noboa administration’s proposal for new mining fees has met with resistance from the domestic mining chamber.
Addressing this, Government Spokesperson Carolina Jaramillo stated that the fees would be proportionate to the project’s size and type. She emphasised that an “open dialogue” with industry representatives is ongoing.
Instagram tests a reposts feature because Instagram is testing the ability for users to repost posts, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday. The move doesn’t come as a surprise, as the social network was spotted developing the feature as far back as 2022.
Some users have reported seeing the feature on their accounts, with one noting that users will be able to repost their own content in addition to other users’ posts.
Of course, not everyone will be on board if Instagram decides to roll out the change officially, especially since it would add yet another content format to a platform already overcrowded with posts, Stories, Reels, Notes, DMs, ads, and more.
On the other hand, some people will welcome the change since it will allow them to share and amplify interesting content like they already do on other platforms.
Although you can currently share someone’s post in your Story, this upcoming repost functionality will let you reshare the post in Instagram’s Feed. In addition, some people currently use workarounds and third-party apps to repost content, so an official reshare feature would get rid of the need to find alternatives.
As for creators, the repost functionality could be a way for them to boost their reach and discoverability. Plus, Instagram is flooded with reposted memes and photos that often don’t credit original posters, so the addition of a repost feature could help ensure that creators receive credit when their content is shared widely.
It makes sense for Instagram to introduce the ability to repost, especially since the format has been adopted by other social networks like Threads and TikTok. It’s worth noting that reposts were popularized by Twitter’s introduction of the “Retweet” feature back in 2009.
As with any other test feature, it’s unknown when or if Instagram plans to release its repost functionality to all users.
Joey Lynch is a Melbourne-based sports journalist and AYA cancer advocate. Primarily working on football, he has covered the Socceroos, Matildas and A-Leagues for ESPN for over a decade.
Jun 17, 2025, 12:17 AM ET
A trio of Socceroos who call MLS home are confident the league’s rising standards will bolster their hopes of being part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
A former skipper of Belgian Pro League side Standard Liège who started both of the Socceroos’ wins, O’Neill became the latest Aussie to make the move Stateside in April, trading the Meuse River for the Hudson. He joined Rowles, Yazbek, Ariath Piol, Giuseppe Bovalina, Lachlan Brook, and Jake Girdwood-Reich in a large cohort of Australians moving to the MLS in the past 24 months.
“It was something that came a little bit out of the blue, but it’s something that I’m extremely excited to be involved in,” O’Neill told ESPN. “At a club like New York and the MLS as well. I’ve been there for nearly a month now, and the quality has surprised me — it’s been really good.
“There are some really good players, especially in the attacking third; ones that if you make a mistake, they can really punish you.”
Previously describing the American top-flight as serving as a “good stepping-stone” for his players, Socceroos coach Tony Popovic started an all-MLS pivot of O’Neill and Yazbek in the Socceroos’ pivotal 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia last week, handing the latter a first international start in the process.
“It’s a growing league, it’s massive,” Yazbek told ESPN. “I think it doesn’t actually get the kind of recognition it deserves at the moment. I can only say that in a few years, it’ll be one of the biggest leagues in the world.
“You know that you’re getting consistent world-class opposition in a very competitive league with a lot of teams. That was very important for me, to make sure that my level of football is at the highest level at all times.”
While MLS has long battled a reputation as being a “retirement league,” 23-year-old Yazbek is reflective of the type of player that Australia has supplied to the league in recent years; players in their prime, such as O’Neill (26) and Rowles (26), or still yet to enter it like Yazbek, Piol (20), and Girdwood-Reich (21).
“There’s a massive, old perception of MLS being this retirement league when, in fact, it’s completely the opposite,” said Yazbek.
“There are so many young players coming out of there, so many young players are going there and getting sold, and some are even playing out their careers there. It’s a league with world-class resources, world-class facilities, great fan engagement, and it’s highly competitive.”
With the Socceroos qualifying for the World Cup with a year to spare, Australian players will spend the next 12 months doing everything they can to press their case for selection in Popovic’s final squad. And Rowles is confident the MLS environment is one where he can press his case.
“From the outside, a lot of people think it might be just a bit of a jolly up, but it’s physically taxing, for sure,” Rowles told ESPN. “The boys get through a lot of work every game, and they push your bodies to the limits every week.
“Externally, there might be that little bit of ideology around the league, but I think every week, when you see the lineup of other teams, they’re always stacked from the midfield and into the forward. For me, every week is a new challenge and a new opportunity to prove myself against great players.
“With them hosting the World Cup, it’s only going to get better … with the amount of effort and time and finances that’s going to get put into it.”
