“For me, they’re going to have the same possibility playing in MLS than if they played in the Premier League or in La Liga or in Belgium, in France,” said the US Men’s National Team manager Mauricio Pochettino, making it clear that he doesn’t exclusively favor Europe-based players while ignoring homegrown talent on American soil. Honestly, as the Stars and Stripes boss, that should be a given. But consider other national teams. Given how MLS is often seen as low on the totem pole compared to Europe’s top leagues, this bias tends to seep into international team selections for players competing in the American league.

But it looks like those days may be behind us. Believe it or not, San Diego forward Anders Dreyer is actually crediting Major League Soccer for helping him break through into his national team. Having already represented Denmark five times, the 24-year-old insists that while the American men’s soccer league may not carry much weight in Europe, his national team coaches are still in touch—and even fans back home continue to follow his progress closely.

“Yeah, I am (hearing from national team coaches),” began Dreyer during an exclusive interview with ex-USMNT stars Landon Donovan and Tim Howard on the Unfiltered Soccer podcast. The forward insisted that while he went to the Euros, Anders didn’t get to play a single minute, as post-tournament matches even saw him getting left out of the squad.

However, in the recently held June window, while he came off the bench for just a minute-long appearance during the 2-1 vs Northern Ireland, against Lithuania, the San Diego star played over 78 minutes, even scoring and assisting in the thumping 5-0 win.

And talk about rising from the ashes, because mind you, before these two games, the last time he played for Denmark was last year in March, during a 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands in a friendly encounter. “I think the way I have been doing over here in the MLS has brought me back, maybe to the national team,” added the former Brighton star.

Interestingly, Anders Dreyer was again questioned whether the coaches of his national team had ever warned him that consistently playing in MLS could potentially put his spot at risk. In response, the former RSC Anderlecht forward acknowledged that while there might have been a perception in the past that MLS wasn’t up to standard, that mindset has started to shift.

“It the beginning of the MLS, and also years back, maybe they thought MLS is not so good level,” he admitted. “But I think they’ve started to realize, ‘Okay, maybe it is a good league, and I think that’s also important.’” Dreyer added that his return to the national team while playing in MLS may even encourage more attention toward the league.

The former Rubin Kazan and Anderlecht player expressed his pride in returning to the national team as a player based in Major League Soccer, suggesting that it might compel others to start paying attention to the American domestic soccer landscape as well. Heck, his love to promote the MLS doesn’t end here!

The actual level of the MLS…

Despite having played for clubs across England, Denmark, Russia, and Belgium, Anders Dreyer views the MLS with the same lens of respect as someone would at the European league. When asked to rank all the major leagues, he kept the big five, i.e., England’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A, and Ligue 1 of France.

While among the big five leagues, Dreyer has only savored the experience of the Premier League with Brighton & Hove Albion. Outside of them, he has also played in the Belgian league—something he ranks in the same bracket as MLS. It doesn’t end there; he even rates the American League higher than both his home country’s Danish League and the Russian League.

“I think the MLS league is a good level of football, and there are very, very good players in this league. That keeps the level high, which is important for the league,” admitted the San Diego star, who has notched 16 assists and 11 goals for the MLS expansion side. No wonder that even after moving to North America, Anders Dreyer hasn’t been forgotten by his fans—or his national team, for that matter.