Major League Soccer All-Star Game
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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. 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 what was probably the most competitive All-Star game in the league's history. 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. The 2006 MLS All-Star Game was held at Toyota Park on August 5 versus English Premier League champions Chelsea, a 1-0 victory for the All-Stars and a possible sign that the MLS is trending towards playing major foreign clubs in an effort to boost interest and improve international and domestic perceptions about the quality of MLS players.
The 2008 All-Star Game will be held in Toronto, home to the MLS' newest franchise Toronto FC.
MLS is one of the few soccer leagues that plays an All-Star game. To many soccer fans elsewhere, international football would make any "all-star" game redundant and meaningless. In British English, an "all-star" soccer team representing a particular league or other grouping is called an XI (the Roman numeral represents the eleven players on the field). In respect of this tradition, MLS frequently referred to its starting lineup as an "XI" for its matches against Fulham and Chelsea.
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[edit] Previous results
| Date Played | Winning Team | Losing Team | Score | Location | City | Att. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | East | West | 3-2 | Giants Stadium | East Rutherford | 78,416^ |
| 1997 | East | West | 5-4 | Giants Stadium | East Rutherford | 24,816 |
| 1998 | MLS USA | MLS World | 6-1 | Citrus Bowl | Orlando | 34,416 |
| 1999 | West | East | 6-4 | Qualcomm Stadium | San Diego | 23,227 |
| 2000 | East | West | 9-4 | Columbus Crew Stadium | Columbus | 23,495^ |
| 2001 | East | West | 6-6† | Spartan Stadium | San Jose | 23,512 |
| 2002 | MLS All Stars | USA | 3-2 | RFK Stadium | Washington, D.C. | 31,096 |
| 2003 | MLS All Stars | Guadalajara | 3-1 | Home Depot Center | Carson, California | 27,000^ |
| 2004 | East | West | 3-2 | RFK Stadium | Washington, D.C. | 21,378 |
| 2005 | MLS All Stars | Fulham | 4-1 | Columbus Crew Stadium | Columbus | 23,309^ |
| 2006 | MLS All Stars | Chelsea | 1-0 | Toyota Park | Bridgeview, Illinois | 21,210^ |
| 2007 | Dick's Sporting Goods Park | Commerce City, Colorado | ||||
| 2008 | BMO Field | Toronto, Ontario |
- †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
[edit] Halftime Shows
- 1996
- 1997
- 1998
- 1999
- 2000
- 2001
- 2002 Paulina Rubio
- 2003 Third Eye Blind
- 2004
- 2005 Bowling For Soup
- 2006 Lupe Fiasco [1]
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Lupe Fiasco Highlights Sierra Mist 2006 MLS All-Star Halftime Show", OurSportsCentral.com, 2006-07-26. Retrieved on 2006-08-04. (in English)
| Major League Soccer 2007 | |
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Eastern Conference |
Western Conference |
| Former teams | On hiatus |
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| Miami Fusion | Tampa Bay Mutiny | San Jose Earthquakes |
| Miscellaneous | |
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MLS Cup | All-Star Game | USSF | CSA | Central Division | U.S. Open Cup |
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