2008 Woodie Awards
Toronto hosts 2008 MLS All-Star game
MLS will face West Ham United
Hart Holloman
Issue date: 7/23/08 Section: Sports
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The affair will pit the MLS All-Stars against West Ham United of the English Premier League. It is the fifth time the All-Stars have faced a foreign opponent and they will look to remain perfect against such opposition.
MLS beat Chivas Guadalajara in 2003, dropped Fulham in 2005, surprised Chelsea a year later, and drove Celtic out of Denver last year.
The games have a tendency to polarize opinions on the progress of MLS and soccer in the U.S. in general. Supporters will point to the victories as a sign that soccer in the US is catching up to the European leagues in quality, even if not in popularity.
Detractors will claim that these games are a farce and point to the fact that because the European teams are still in preseason, they are not match fit, so it's not a fair test. The truth is somewhere in the middle of these two opinions.
MLS has come a long way since its inception. The league has done well to stay within its bounds as well as avoiding growing too fast too soon.
Its development has been steady if not spectacular and the league has taken steps to ensure that homegrown talent is the major representation of the league. That's not to say it has rejected foreign talent. In fact, many teams have looked outside the boarders of the U.S. to add creativity and experience to their squads, but the core of the league still rests at the feet of U.S. born players.
On the other side of the coin, elite U.S. prospects are still using MLS as a springboard for careers in Europe. MLS still doesn't provide the week in-week out competition level that European leagues do.
However, MLS does boast some great players who would fit into any league in the world. That is what this showcase game is mainly about, proving that MLS has talent that can compete with the best.
Maybe it doesn't have the level of talent top to bottom of the best leagues in the world, but an All-Star team of MLS players can compete with any team in the world.
This Thursday's game against West Ham will provide an interesting test though. As a middling and often underachieving team in the EPL in recent years, West Ham is looking to return their status as one of the top teams outside the "top four" that dominate the EPL landscape.
The Hammers have not taken advantage of their large fan-base in recent times and that fan-base is growing weary of their underachieving. This has lead to the assumption that manager Alan Curbishley will start this season on the hot-seat, so he will want his troops looking sharp any time they take field.
For the All-Stars the controversy has centered around some questionable selections and snubs for the team.
Matt Reis has been the best goalie in the league and the backline of Frankie Hejduk, Jimmy Conrad, and Michael Parkhurst can hardly be argued with. But, with Parkhurst due to miss the game as an overage selection for the Olympics, manager Steve Nichol chose Jonathan Bornstein as his replacement.
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