ancouver Whitecaps' Long Tan reacts after missing a chance to score against the Portland Timbers during the second half of their MLS soccer match in Vancouver, British Columbia October 2, 2011. REUTERS/Ben NelmsBen Nelms/Reuters
Long Tan grew up in the 1990s in Dalian, China, across the Bohai Sea from Tianjin and the country's capital, Beijing. When he was 6 he started playing soccer for his school team and by 20 was scoring six goals in 16 games for a second-tier pro team.
Tan, whose mother is Chinese and stepfather American, made the jump to North America with his ambition set on Major League Soccer. He played in lower-tier leagues and last year failed at a tryout with the expansion MLS Philadelphia Union, before the 23-year-old striker caught on with Vancouver Whitecaps FC this spring.
He is the first China-born player in the league, whose 18 teams boast the most diverse playing rosters among North America's top sports. Of MLS's 500 or so players, more than a third were born outside the continent (compared with only three per cent in the NFL), and players' countries of birth total nearly 60. The NBA is next at 40, the NFL comes in at 27, the NHL at 19, and baseball at 18.
Tan became an instant star in Vancouver when he scored his first MLS goal this month, a game-winning header, after pocketing numerous goals in secondary games. His name became a hot local Twitter trend and the next day, departing for the final road game of the season, Tan was seen off by a small scrum of local Chinese-Canadian media. Teammates have noted his hard work through the season and his dangerous feints and shots as a striker.
When Tan was subbed off several minutes after his goal, he was embraced by Caps star striker Eric Hassli, 30, who has mentored his younger teammate. Tan likened Hassli to a coach.
"I just learn every day from him," Tan told reporters, helped along through a Mandarin interpreter after the match. "Every day, he says, 'Long, work hard.'"
David Ebner