Major League Soccer All-Star Game
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| Founded | 1996 |
|---|---|
| Region | Major League Soccer (CONCACAF) |
| Number of teams | 2 |
| Most successful club |   MLS All-Stars (6 times) |
| Television broadcasters | ESPN2HD, TeleFutura, CBC |
| Motto | Major League Soccer Takes On The World |
 MLS All-Star 2009 |
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The MLS All-Star Game has been held each season that Major League Soccer has existed. The set-up for the game has been far more fluid than that of All-Star Games in more traditional leagues such as the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB. In six out of eleven years, the Eastern Division players have played Western Division players.
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[edit] Format history
Twice, both during World Cup years, the league featured matchups based on nationality - in 1998, the Americans of MLS played the internationals; in 2002, the U.S. national team faced off against the (remaining) All-Stars of MLS.
In 2003, the MLS All-Stars played Chivas de Guadalajara in Los Angeles.
In 2004, an attempt to pit MLS All-Stars against Real Madrid fell through when Real Madrid failed to achieve automatic qualification for the Champions League, forcing MLS to return to traditional East-West play.
The 2005 MLS All-Star Game was played by selected MLS All-Stars against the English Premier League side Fulham at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio as Fulham's American forward Brian McBride, the MVP of the 1998 MLS All-Star Game and a former Columbus Crew forward, made an anticipated return to the city (and also former Chicago Fire Carlos Bocanegra in the Fulham side).
The 2006 MLS All-Star Game was held at Toyota Park on August 5 versus English Premier League champions Chelsea, resulting in a 0-1 loss for Chelsea and a possible sign that the MLS is beginning to play major foreign clubs in an effort to boost interest and improve international and domestic perceptions about the quality of MLS players. Since the MLS All-Stars began to play international opposition, they have been remarkably successful, winning all five encounters. However, this may be because at the time of the All-Star game, the MLS players are in mid-season form, and the teams coming from abroad view the match as a preseason friendly.
The 2007 All-Star Game was held in Commerce City, Colorado, site of the new stadium of the Colorado Rapids and the all-star team beat the Scottish Premier League champions, Celtic 2-0.
The 2008 edition was held in Toronto, home to Toronto FC. On July 24th, the All-Stars played English Premier League side West Ham United, with the MLS winning 3–2.[1] The 2009 MLS All-Star game will be played against Everton in Sandy, Utah.
[edit] Previous results
- †Tie
- ^sell-out crowd
[edit] Game MVPs
- 1996 Carlos Valderrama
- 1997 Carlos Valderrama
- 1998 Brian McBride
- 1999 Preki
- 2000 Mamadou Diallo
- 2001 Landon Donovan
- 2002 Marco Etcheverry
- 2003 Carlos Ruiz
- 2004 Amado Guevara
- 2005 Taylor Twellman
- 2006 Dwayne De Rosario
- 2007 Juan Pablo Ángel
- 2008 Cuauhtémoc Blanco
[edit] Halftime shows
- 1996
- 1997
- 1998
- 1999
- 2000
- 2001
- 2002 Paulina Rubio
- 2003 Third Eye Blind
- 2004
- 2005 Bowling for Soup
- 2006 Lupe Fiasco
- 2007 The Academy Is...
- 2008 Estelle
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ "DeRosario, Blanco lead MLS All-Star win". ESPN. 2008-07-24. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=251028&cc=5901. Retrieved on 2008-07-25.
- ^ Major League Soccer: News: Article
- ^ "RSL Stadium to host '09 MLS All-Star Game". MLS. 2008-07-09. http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080709&content_id=171409&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp. Retrieved on 2008-07-10.
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