MLS All-Stars face elite Everton FC
Best of Major League Soccer again tackle soccer giants
MLS ALL-STARS v EVERTON FC
RIO TINTO STADIUM, Sandy, Utah
July 29, 2009, 7:30 p.m. MT (ESPN2; Galavision)
The MLS All-Star Game features the theme of "MLS Takes on the World," and this year is no different, as the MLS All-Stars take on one of the world's great clubs, England's Everton FC. It's the fourth time in five years an English Premier League club will provide the opposition, after the MLS All-Stars took on Fulham FC in 2005, Chelsea FC in 2006, and defeated West Ham United FC a year ago. A year ago, the best of MLS took on Scotland's Celtic FC; the series began six years ago when the MLS side defeated CD Guadalajara of Mexico. The MLS All-Stars are a perfect 5-0 against their international opponents, with a combined scoring margin of 13-4.
THE OPPOSITION: Everton FC, based in Liverpool, England, have one of the richest histories in English soccer. They have competed in the top division for a record 107 seasons, winning nine league championship and two FA Cups.
EVERTON LAST SEASON: The club reached the 2009 FA Cup Final by defeating Manchester United on penalty kicks, before losing to Chelsea FC 2-1 despite seeing Louis Saha score the earliest goal ever in an FA Cup Final. Everton FC finished in fifth place in the English Premier League with 63 points from 38 matches, nine behind fourth-place Arsenal and one ahead of Aston Villa. The Toffees qualified for the UEFA Europa League.
THE FORMAT: This is the sixth time the MLS All-Stars have taken on international competition in the All-Star Game. The MLS All-Stars have won all five previous meetings, outscoring their opponents 13-4.
 |
Last year, the MLS All-Stars defeated English Premier League side West Ham United 3-2 on goals from Chicago's Cuauhtemoc Blanco, D.C. United's Christian Gomez and Dwayne De Rosario, now with Toronto FC. Blanco received the game's Most Valuable Player award, and De Rosario's game winner sent the MLS All-Stars to victory in front of his hometown fans.
In 2007, the MLS All-Stars defeated Scottish Premier League power Celtic FC 2-0 behind goals from New York Red Bulls striker Juan Pablo Angel and former FC Dallas midfielder Juan Toja. In 2006, the MLS All-Stars defeated former Premier League champions Chelsea FC 1-0 on a goal by De Rosario. The 2005 event saw the MLS All-Stars defeat English Premier League club Fulham FC 4-1 at Columbus Crew Stadium and in 2003, the MLS All-Stars downed Mexican club CD Guadalajara 3-1 at The Home Depot Center with Carlos Ruiz capturing MVP honors.
The 2003 contest was the second consecutive year a single team of MLS All-Stars was selected for the midseason classic, as the year before the MLS All-Stars took on a U.S. national team selection following the USA's historic quarterfinal performance at FIFA World Cup 2002 Korea/Japan. All 18 of the players selected by Bruce Arena for the match plied their trade in MLS. In 1998, an international theme was also used in the MLS All-Star Game as a team of U.S. MLS stars took on a squad comprised of international MLS stars. Each of the other seven All-Star Games has featured an East vs. West format.
THE REFEREES: Ricardo Salazar will be the referee for the 2009 MLS All-Star Game. In his 11th season as a Major League Soccer referee and a FIFA referee since 2005, this is his first All-Star Game as the center referee. He was the fourth official for the 2005 All-Star Game. The senior assistant referee is Joe Fletcher, and the junior assistant referee is Philippe Briere, both of whom will be running the lines for their first All-Star Game. They are referees from the Canadian Soccer Association officiating in Major League Soccer as part of the cooperative program between the countries. The fourth official is Terry Vaughn, who is in his 12th year in MLS and has been a FIFA referee since 2004. Vaughn was also the fourth official in the 2006 MLS All-Star Game.
RULES OF COMPETITION: Each team will be allowed seven substitutes. At the end of 90 minutes, if the teams are tied, the match will end in a draw; no extra time will be played, and kicks from the penalty mark will not be taken.
TEAM SELECTION: The MLS All-Star First XI was determined by votes from online fan balloting (25 percent of total), media (25 percent), players (25 percent), and MLS coaches and GMs (25 percent). The First XI is not necessarily the starting 11, as MLS All-Star head coach Dominic Kinnear will select the starters based on player availability and tactical considerations.
The percentage of ballots within each voting group for each player selected to the First XI:
Player |
Fans | Players | Media | Coach/GMs | Combined |
| Kasey Keller (SEA) | 8.88 | 7.06 | 14.56 | 9.55 | 40.05 |
| Pat Onstad (HOU) | 2.09 | 3.11 | 2.53 | 6.36 | 14.09 |
DEFENDERS
| Chad Marshall (CLB) | 2.30 | 6.34 | 7.28 | 10.91 | 26.83 |
| Geoff Cameron (HOU) | 1.54 | 4.55 | 6.65 | 7.73 | 20.47 |
| Wilman Conde (CHI) | 1.44 | 4.43 | 4.43 | 10.00 | 20.30 |
| Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (SEA) | 5.42 | 2.87 | 5.70 | 4.55 | 18.54 |
| Jonathan Bornstein (CHV) | .80 | 3.71 | 5.70 | 7.27 | 18.48 |
| Guillermo Barros Schelotto (CLB) | 4.83 | 14.23 | 20.25 | 18.18 | 57.49 |
| Freddie Ljungberg (SEA) | 7.42 | 4.55 | 9.18 | 8.18 | 29.33 |
| Shalrie Joseph (NE) | 1.40 | 8.85 | 4.43 | 12.27 | 26.95 |
| Stuart Holden (HOU) | 2.28 | 8.01 | 5.06 | 10.00 | 25.35 |
| Dwayne De Rosario (TOR) | 4.06 | 4.90 | 7.91 | 5.46 | 22.33 |
| Cuauhtémoc Blanco (CHI) | 3.93 | 2.75 | 11.08 | 4.09 | 21.85 |
| Ricardo Clark (HOU) | 2.03 | 5.86 | 4.75 | 8.18 | 20.82 |
| Osvaldo Alonso (SEA) | 5.34 | 2.39 | 7.28 | 3.18 | 18.19 |
| Paulo Nagamura (CHV) | 1.02 | 4.67 | 2.85 | 9.55 | 18.09 |
FORWARDS
| Landon Donovan (LA) | 4.87 | 10.05 | 11.08 | 16.82 | 42.82 |
| Conor Casey (COL) | 1.25 | 12.80 | 7.28 | 18.18 | 39.51 |
| Fredy Montero (SEA) | 6.39 | 6.22 | 12.98 | 5.46 | 31.05 |
| Brian McBride (CHI) | 3.40 | 8.49 | 3.48 | 6.82 | 22.19 |
HEAD COACH: As coach of the team which had the best points-per game record through June 28, Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear will coach the MLS All-Stars. Now in his fourth season as Dynamo head coach, Kinnear led the Dynamo to two MLS Cups (2006 and 2007). Kinnear captured MLS Coach of the Year honors in 2005 with San Jose. This is his first chance to coach the All-Stars.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Kinnear relocated to Fremont, Calif. at age 3. The former U.S. international began his professional career in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL). He played for both the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks and the Seattle Sounders, interrupted by a season with Necaxa in Mexico's Primera Division, winning one championship with each club. Kinnear joined MLS as a player with the San Jose Clash during the League's inaugural season in 1996. He also played with the Colorado Rapids and the Tampa Bay Mutiny in his 117-game MLS career, scoring six goals and tallying 26 assists.
Kinnear earned 54 caps for the U.S. national team with nine goals and two assists throughout his career. In 1993, he led the U.S. with seven goals and one assist. He was captain of the national squad for its match against his country of birth, Scotland, on May 17, 1992, in Denver.
THE FIRST XI: The First XI selected in the balloting of fans, players, coaches and general managers and the media was reflective of Major League Soccer's diverse player pool, as seven nations were represented with an age range from 23 years to 39 years. Stuart Holden, 23, is the youngest member of the First XI, 16 years younger than the First XI's most senior member, 39-year-old Kasey Keller. Five members of the First XI played for the U.S. national team, while four others represented their countries at the senior level -- Schelotto (Argentina), Ljungberg (Sweden), Joseph (Grenada) and De Rosario (Canada).
REPLACEMENTS: Two additions were made to the MLS All-Star team when Dwayne De Rosario and Guillermo Barros Schelotto, voted to the First XI, were unable to play.
De Rosario is unavailable for the All-Star Game due to his club's participation in the CONCACAF Champions League as Toronto FC face the Puerto Rico Islanders in the preliminary round of the tournament on the same day as the MLS All-Star Game, while Schelotto was ruled out to injury.
Replacing the two in the squad were Cuauhtémoc Blanco of the Chicago Fire and Fredy Montero of Seattle Sounders FC, the next highest vote-getters among midfielders and forwards respectively.
THE REST: As head coach, Dominic Kinnear was given the opportunity to select five reserves for the 18-man gameday roster. In addition, MLS Commissioner Don Garber made two selections. Kinnear selected goalkeeper Pat Onstad (Houston Dynamo), defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Seattle Sounders FC), midfielders Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo) and Davy Arnaud (Kansas City Wizards) and forward Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo). Commissioner Garber selected two players from Real Salt Lake, midfielders Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales.
FURTHER CHANGES: Three more changes were made to the All-Star squad in the days leading up to the match. A third player from hometown side Real Salt Lake, Canadian international Will Johnson, and Chicago Fire defender Bakary Soumare, were added to the team in place of U.S. international Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo) and New England Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph. Ching played in five of the six games for the U.S. in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, while Joseph had been hampered by a knee injury. On Sunday, Kinnear brought in goalkeeper Zach Thornton of Chivas USA in place of Houston Dynamo netminder Pat Onstad.
INTERNATIONALS ON PARADE: Fourteen of the 18 MLS All-Stars have represented their country at the senior level. Four - Columbus Crew defender Chad Marshall, Real Salt Lake midfielder Kyle Beckerman, Kansas City Wizards midfielder Davy Arnaud and Houston Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden - were all in the U.S. squad at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy) and Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids) were all in the U.S. team for the recently concluded FIFA Confederations Cup, while Zach Thornton (Chivas USA), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo) and Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders FC) have all won caps for the USA. Will Johnson was in Canada's team for the Gold Cup, and Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire) and Bakary Soumare have both competed for their national team in recent World Cup qualifiers, for Mexico and Mali respectively. Freddie Ljungberg played for Sweden's in last summer's European Championship, and Seattle Sounders FC teammate Fredy Montero has played for Colombia.
RETURNEES: Just two players who played in the 2008 MLS All-Star Game - Landon Donovan and Cuauhtémoc Blanco - will be part of the gameday squad for the 2009 contest. Three other players - Dwayne De Rosario, Pat Onstad and Shalrie Joseph - were all named to the MLS All-Stars but withdrew due to club commitment or injury.
That is the fewest number of returning players from one year to the next in the MLS vs. the World format. Last year, 10 players who appeared in the 2007 All-Star Game saw action against West Ham United. In 2007, six players who played against Chelsea FC returned to take on Celtic. In 2006, four players who had been in the team to face Fulham were in the group that opposed Chelsea.
DEBUTANTS: Fourteen players will making their first appearances in an MLS All-Star Game - the most for any single MLS team in the current format. Only Landon Donovan (seven previous All-Star games), Zach Thornton (four previous games), Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Brad Davis (one each) have previous seen All-Star action. For Thornton, it will be his first selection in the MLS vs. the World scheme.
Each of the last two years, four players have made their All-Star Game debut (2007 vs. West Ham: Beckham, Blanco, Brennan, Cooper; 2006 vs. Celtic: Toja, Angel, Bornstein, Eddie Johnson). In 2003, there were five; seven made their All-Star bows in 2005, and in 2006 eight players made their initial All-Star appearance.
Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Freddie Ljungberg could have appeared in the MLS All-Star Game last year as a member of West Ham United, but he was not part of the club's North American tour after his exertions in Euro 2008.
BY TEAM: Seattle Sounders FC will enter the 2009 MLS All-Star Game with the most representation in the squad with four players - Freddie Ljungberg, Fredy Montero, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Kasey Keller. The Houston Dynamo will have three - Brad Davis, Geoff Cameron and Stuart Holden - though two others (Pat Onstad and Brian Ching) were originally selected for the team. Real Salt Lake will also have three players - a trio of midfielders in Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales and Will Johnson, and the Chicago Fire also have three in defenders Wilman Conde, Bakary Soumare and Cuauhtémoc Blanco. Five clubs - Chivas USA, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, Kansas City Wizards and Los Angeles Galaxy - all have one player in the 18-man squad. Players from the Western Conference comprise 13 of the 18-man MLS team.
TOPS ON THE CHARTS: The top four in the race for the MLS Golden Boot were all named to the MLS All-Star squad this year. Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who leads MLS with 10 goals, was selected to the First XI but will miss the game to injury. Next is Fredy Montero (Seattle) with nine goals, followed by Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy) and Conor Casey (Colorado) with eight - all of whom are in the MLS team. Two of three players tied for lead in assists are in the team - Houston's Brad Davis and Chicago's Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who are level with Colorado Rapids striker Omar Cummings with seven each.
The top two goalkeepers in goals-against-average were also named to the MLS team - Houston's Pat Onstad (0.74) and Seattle's Kasey Keller (0.80). With Onstad's departure, the third 'keeper in GAA - Chivas USA's Zach Thornton (0.88) was added. The trio is also the top three in shutouts - Onstad (8), Thornton (7) and Keller (6).
EVERTON CONNECTIONS: In addition to current U.S. international and former MetroStars goalkeeper Tim Howard, some other past Everton standouts have MLS connections. Defender Richard Gough moved to Everton (two seasons; 42 apps, 1 goals) after two seasons in MLS, 1997 (Kansas City) and 1998 (San Jose). Swedish international winger Andres Limpar (EFC 1994-97; 82 apps, 6 goals) spent two seasons (1999-2000) with Colorado and striker Paul Rideout (EFC 1992-97; 140 apps, 40 goals) played with Kansas City in 1998.
As well, two current MLS head coaches - Chivas USA boss Preki and the Columbus Crew's Robert Warzycha - played together for Everton in the early '90s. Then-Everton manager Howard Kendall bought Preki, born Predrag Radosavljevic, for a fee of £100,000 in the summer of 1992. Preki made 53 appearances for the Blues, 28 of those as a substitute before moving to Portsmouth in July 1994. A £500,000 signing from Gornik Zabrze in March 1991, Polish international Warzycha spent three years with Everton. He made a total of 82 appearances in that time, 26 as a substitute, before returning to his native Poland in May 1994. Warzycha was one of just 12 foreign-born players to appear in the Premier League's inaugural season.
UNSCORED UPON: When West Ham United's Dean Ashton put his side ahead after 26 minutes in the 2008 MLS All-Star Game, it was the first goal allowed by the MLS All-Stars in 259 minutes, and the first goal from open play conceded in 319 minutes. The MLS All-Stars had recorded back-to-back shutouts against Chelsea FC (2006) and Celtic FC (2007). West Ham United was the first team in five All-Star Games to score more than one goal against the best of Major League Soccer.
ADDITIONAL SELECTIONS: In addition to the 18-man MLS All-Star roster - the First XI, the five players chosen by Dominic Kinnear and the two Commissioner's Picks - an additional 14 players were selected. In the case any of the original 18 players were unable to participate, any substitutions would come from the "inactive" roster of 14.
Five additional selections have already been added to the team - goalkeeper Zach Thornton, defender Bakary Soumare, midfielder Will Johnson and Cuauhtémoc Blanco and forward Fredy Montero, replacing First XI selections Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Dwayne De Rosario and Shalrie Joseph, as well as coach's selections Brian Ching and Pat Onstad.
The complete list:
GOALKEEPERS: Pat Onstad (Houston Dynamo); Donovan Ricketts (LA Galaxy); DEFENDERS: Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA); Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew); Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards); MIDFIELDERS: Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew); Shalrie Joseph (New England Revolution); Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC); Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo); Paulo Nagamura (Chivas USA); Amado Guevara (Toronto FC); FORWARDS: Brian McBride (Chicago Fire); Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo); Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls)* = First XI selection
