Sam Sundermeyer
Imagine the stars from Liverpool suiting up alongside their fellow counterparts from Everton for a mid-season game, on the same team. Or Ronaldo and Terry pairing together on the pitch just days after playing as opponents. Sounds a bit odd, doesn’t it?
Well here in America, that reality is very real and natural. On July 24th, the MLS All-Stars faced off vs. West Ham United at Toronto’s BMO Field for Major League Soccer’s 13th annual All-Star Game. Stars from across the league gathered against the Hammers, hoping to take down one of the English Premier League’s most popular teams. Can MLS’ finest pull it off? How is the team formed in the first place? And some might be asking, why are they playing in the first place? It’s time to cross the pond and look into MLS’ night of stars.
The “All-Star Game” concept has deep roots in America. All of the major sporting leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL) incorporate it into their seasons as a way to add some flavour into the long seasons, and give the fans a good show. The game is typically played at the halfway point of the season, and MLS is no exception. The game takes place sometime in the last two weeks of July, depending on what day in March the season began. It is known as the “All-Star break” because the game occurs at the end of the week, giving players an extra day or two of rest during the hottest time of the season.
In the past, the game was played completely within the league, pairing the two tables against each other, the West vs. the East. This is the typical format most All-Star games use, as it shows the best from both sides of the league facing each other.
However, MLS struggled with this format. The players were not household names, the venues were not historic, and the game lacked a sense of importance to it. The league tried revising the format in the 1998 season, using the top U.S. born players vs. the top foreign born players, but this failed to create any new interest. The league reverted back to the East vs. West game until 2002, when the game changed drastically, pairing the MLS All-Stars vs. the U.S. National Team. This however brought up obvious conflicts, as many of the U.S. National Team players could play for the MLS team, and vice versa. The league had the right idea, pairing all of the MLS All-Stars onto one team, but the opponent factor was still an obvious problem.
In 2003, the league finally found the right result, inviting C.D. Guadalajara Chivas, one of Mexico’s most prominent teams, to face the MLS All-Stars. The match was a success, both on and off the field. The All-Stars beat Chivas 3-1 in a highly entertaining game, and the crowd of over 31,000 was the third highest in the game’s history.
The league has continued with the format of inviting high profile international clubs to play the league’s best, including victories over English powerhouse Chelsea and Scottish giants Celtic. Playing top international clubs allows MLS players to gain experience vs. top world talent, and it allows the league to further enlarge their international presence. It works out for the foreign club as well. Players are able to get some match action in during the summer break and pre-season, and it is an opportunity for the club to promote themselves in America, which is quickly becoming a source of big money for many clubs.
Last year, the MLS All-Stars beat Celtic 2-0 in a fiercely contested game in front of a capacity crowd at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. This year the league’s best take on West Ham United at BMO Field in Toronto, CA, one of the league’s rowdiest atmospheres. The highly anticipated friendly will no doubt be a highly entertaining match, and although MLS is unbeaten versus foreign opponents, you cannot count West Ham out.
The idea of the game is great and all some might say, but how is it actually put together? The game itself and the location of the game is decided by the Commissioner’s Office, which tries to select a high profile venue, while selecting a new location every year. Last year’s game was held at one the league’s newest stadiums, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, home of the Colorado Rapids. This year’s game is at Toronto FC’s BMO Field, which opened last season. The 2009 game will take place at Real Salt Lake Stadium in Sandy, Utah. The stadium is yet to be completed, but it is expected to be finished at the end of the current season.
As for the actual team, voting is used to create the squad. The league gets the votes in four different ways. Fans can vote online for 1/4th of the balloting, using votes from managers, general managers, players, and the media for the other 75% to create the team. The top vote getters in each position are named the MLS First 11, but this does not earn them a starting spot on the team. The manager (who is the losing manager in the MLS Cup), gets an additional 3 selections to add any player he wants to, and the Commissioner makes 2 selections of his own. The starting eleven is then determined by the manager, after formations and injuries are taken into consideration.
The selection process allows for players from all across the league to get an opportunity to play, and this in turn allows the fans to see players they might not have been able to in league games. As expected, LA Galaxy’s David Beckham was this year’s leading vote getter, with his teammate Landon Donovan following close in second place, and Chicago Fire midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco coming in third. Other highlights of the team include keeper Matt Reis of the New England Revolution, who is making is 4th consecutive start in the game, and Red Bull New York’s Juan Pablo Angel, last year’s MVP, who is making his second all-star game.
The voting can give an advantage to the bigger stars of the league like Beckham, but picks by the manager and Commissioner allow for some lesser known names to get their name in the discussion. Rival fans do not play a huge part in the voting process, as they simply do not have enough votes to just elect every player from their team to the game. In the past, players have been able to place their rivalries aside for the greater good of the league, playing international opponents has led to this sense of league unity.
However, many fans outside the league look upon this with disgust. In many other divisions across the globe, players from rival clubs rarely unite, except in times of charity and international duty. Players from every team across the league playing as one, and playing in the midst of a season much less, simply doesn’t make sense to many fans on the international circuit.
So there it is, the MLS All-Star game. An American staple in sports, yet an anomaly in the beautiful game. The game, along with the league has continued to grow in popularity over the years, drawing sellout crowds for 4 consecutive years, and this year’s game will undoubtly make it 5. Will the game catch on across the world? Only time will tell, but MLS’ night of stars will continue to bring in big crowds, and impressive results on the pitch.
RECAP:
MLS All-Stars defeat West Ham 3-2
In a fast paced and competitive friendly, the MLS All-Stars defeated English side West Ham United 3-2 at BMO Field in Toronto on Thursday night (24/07/08), with goals from Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Christian Gomez, and the game winning penalty kick from Dwayne De Rosario. MLS extended their unbeaten record versus foreign clubs to 5, but West Ham did not go down without a fight. Dean Ashton scored two goals for the Hammers, who looked sharp 3 weeks into their pre-season campaign.
Blanco, the high profile midfielder from the Chicago Fire picked up the MVP award, scoring a goal and adding an assist in only forty-five minutes of action.
The MLS All-Stars responded very well to the West Ham attack, striking back after both of West Ham’s goals, establishing great chemistry on the pitch, even with only a handful of practices under their belt.
LA Galaxy David Beckham assisted on the first MLS goal scored by Gomez, but his impact on the game went beyond the stat sheet. His long crosses spread the field of play for the All-Stars who clearly had the fitter side, with the league in mid-season while West Ham is still weeks away from the opening of the English Premier League.
The fans in Toronto provided a festive atmosphere for the game, as MLS took advantage of it to equal and surpass West Ham’s intensity. The league resumes play at the weekend with four games, including Beckham’s Galaxy taking on FC Dallas, and Blanco’s Fire taking on Kansas City. The league will step back into the international spotlight, as Red Bull New York hosts FC Barcelona, on August 6th, as Barca continues their preparation for the start of the Spanish campaign.
