Major League Soccer All-Star Game

MLS All-Star Game
Founded 1996
Region Major League Soccer (CONCACAF)
Number of teams 2
Most successful club(s) MLS All-Stars (9 times)
Television broadcasters ESPN2, UniMás, TSN
2016 MLS All-Star Game

The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring select players from the league against an international club. MLS initially adopted a traditional all-star game format used by other North American sports leagues where the Eastern Conference squared off against the Western Conference. This eventually evolved into the current system where the league annually invites a club from abroad to play against a league all-star team. The MLS All-Stars hold an 8–4 record in the competition marking the season's midpoint. Players are awarded rosters spots through a combination of fan voting and selections by the appointed manager and league commissioner.

In case of a tie after full-time, the game does not use a 30-minute extra time period; instead it goes straight to a penalty shoot-out.

History

Major League Soccer's first all-star game was played at Giants Stadium in the summer of 1996. The game, using the traditional East–West format with players handpicked by the coaching staffs, was the first game of a doubleheader with the Brazilian national team defeating a team of FIFA World All-Stars.[1][2] The matchup between divisions would only be used for six seasons as MLS tried experimenting with different formats. The 1998 All-Star Game placed a team of American MLS players against MLS players from abroad. The 2002 game, the first to use a league-wide all-star team, is the only game to feature a national team opponent. Since then every opponent has been a professional club invited by the league. The MLS All-Stars won their first six games before falling to Everton in penalties in 2009. All games since 2005 have been against teams from Europe, the majority of which have been from England's Premier League. This is a feasible format because unlike MLS (which runs a spring-summer-fall schedule) the major European leagues all run a fall-winter-spring schedule, meaning the middle of the MLS season coincides with the pre-seasons of most European leagues.

Roster

For 2014, ten players were chosen by All-Star Game coach Caleb Porter, eleven players were chosen by fan voting (subject to Porter's approval), and two were selected by MLS commissioner Don Garber.[3]

Results by team

Team Winner Runner-up Total
United StatesCanada MLS All-Stars 9 4 13
United States MLS East 5 1 6
England Manchester United 2 &
—
 2
United States MLS West 2 4 6
England Arsenal 1 &
—
 1
England Everton 1 &
—
 1
Italy Roma 1 &
—
 1
United States MLS USA 1 &
—
 1
Germany Bayern Munich &
—
 1 1
Scotland Celtic &
—
 1 1
England Fulham &
—
 1 1
Mexico Guadalajara &
—
 1 1
United Nations MLS World &
—
 1 1
England Tottenham Hotspur &
—
 1 1
United States United States &
—
 1 1
England West Ham United &
—
 1 1
England Chelsea &
—
 2 2

Results by format

"East vs. West" 1996–1997

"MLS USA vs. MLS World" 1998

"East vs. West" 1999–2001

"All-Stars vs. Guest" 2002–2003

"East vs. West" 2004

"All-Stars vs. Guest" 2005–present

References

  1. ↑ Stephenson, Colinwas (1996-07-14). "Soccer Fans Get Their Kicks With 2 All-star Games Today". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  2. ↑ Yannis, Alex (1996-07-16). "SOCCER REPORT". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  3. ↑ "MLS announces 2014 MLS All-Star Game roster". US Soccer Players. July 21, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
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