It is an arguable, albeit defensible, position that the most important date in Major League Soccer history to this point was July 13, 2007.

It was on that day that more than 700 accredited media members arrived at Home Depot Centre to witness David Beckham’s official unveiling as a Los Angeles Galaxy player. An agreement between the then 32-year-old and the MLS club had already been reached in January, and over the following six months Galaxy shirt sales would hit a record high.

Interest in the North American top flight peaked as well, and over the next five years part of Major League Soccer’s identity was tied to the fact that it was the league in which David Beckham took his famous free-kicks.

Individual players have always been vital to the continued growth of MLS. While Beckham was obviously the most important, there were others who played important roles as well.

The following slides will reveal a handful of those players, ending—naturally—with Beckham.

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