Brazil's keeper Julio Cesar makes a save in the penalty shootout against Chile in Belo Horizonte on Saturday (Brazilian time). Photo: AFP

Julio Cesar's strong right hand.

That's how the first game of the World Cup ­second round was decided. With his brace of saves Cesar became a national hero. The irony was that but months before when the Selecao's squad was being decided, Cesar was one of the most disputed selections for the sole reason that he plays for ­Toronto FC in North America's Major League ­Soccer (MLS).

Brazilian fans were livid that their first-choice keeper was only playing in the MLS. How could ­Cesar be good enough for the national team when he only played in the lowly league contested in the US and Canada, they asked.

The answer is, now that he is a national hero once again after two huge shootout saves, that ­maybe the public were wrong.

The MLS has had a hard time of it over the years but it may rightly have arrived on the international scene.

Rafael Marquez of Mexico has become the first player to captain any country at four World Cups. He also scored the first in El Tri's win over Croatia to secure qualification to this year's knockout stages. Marquez plies his trade for the New York Red Bulls.

His is just one story that indicates that the MLS might be here to stay. While Marquez and many other long-standing internationals might head to the bright lights of the US for an easy payday and certain celebrity, there are many others that head to the States for a chance at redemption.

Clint Dempsey, formerly of Fulham, struggled with the English Premier League but has been reinvented as a soccer player since returning to the US at the Seattle Sounders. Dempsey's renaissance was proved after 30 seconds against Ghana, where he led the US to a historic and unexpected win.

The vast majority of his US team, which has ­already gone further than England, Italy and Portugal in this World Cup, has its roots in the MLS. Most of the squad are playing or have played in America's national league. While Europe still acts as a finishing school, players of Dempsey's caliber returning stateside to delight those on the bleachers will continue to further the reach of the MLS.

Some of the US squad, such as the dreadlocked Bekerman, have only played in the States but now attract admiring glances from afar. If Klinsmann's boys equip themselves as well against Belgium as they did in the group then they're sure to make top European clubs look to their left from now on.