Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The Major League Soccer All-Stars have not
fared particularly well in America's summer showcase over the past few
seasons.
Playing English Premier League heavyweight Manchester United in consecutive
matches left the team battered, bruised and licking their wounds, falling to
the 19-time league champions by a combined score of 9-2 over the two games.
But don't be fooled by that small sample size. Since the MLS All-Star Game
switched from the prototypical "East vs. West" format to a match that pits all
of the league's best players against a world-renowned team, the All-Stars have
done more than simply hold their own.
Aside from the two humbling defeats to the mighty Red Devils, the MLS All-
Stars have produced a 5-0-1 record against their foreign opponents (though the
draw ultimately turned into a loss to English side Everton on penalties).
Wednesday, the MLS All-Stars will be out to prove that their losses to
Manchester United were nothing more than outliers in an otherwise impressive
record against the world's best as they face reigning European champion and FA
Cup winner Chelsea at PPL Park.
The idea to face international clubs began in 2003 with a 3-1 win over Mexican
side Chivas de Guadalajara. The East vs. West format manifested itself once
more in 2004 before the league reverted back to contests with international
powerhouses, and MLS has not looked back since.
The All-Stars crushed Fulham, 4-1 in 2005 before Dwayne De Rosario helped them
squeak past Chelsea with a 1-0 win in 2006. After taking successive wins
against Scottish giant Celtic (2-0) and English side West Ham United (3-2),
the All-Stars played to a 1-1 draw with Everton in 2009, ultimately losing on
penalties.
Major League Soccer has fought a battle to gain notoriety in a crowded sports
marketplace for some time. In many ways, it is still fighting - there are
plenty of people who contend that soccer in America will struggle to gain
long-term popularity and that players from the United States won't be truly
competitive in the world's game.
The All-Star Game, in its current format, was viewed as a tool to combat this
notion - putting our boys against global footballing giants and proving that
we're good enough.
But even on the back of two sizable losses to Manchester United, Ben Olsen,
head coach the MLS All-Stars, is much more realistic with his expectations.
The D.C. United boss is not feeling the pressure to get a positive result in a
glorified friendly.
"If anything, I should feel less pressure with that," said Olsen in response
to how the two previous All-Star Games will affect his approach. "I'd feel
more pressure if they won both of them [against Manchester United].
"Look, it's a situation where you fly guys in with games on the weekend, you
try to get them on the same page, give them a template to succeed, but you can
only do so much in 36 hours. That's the beauty of this; it's about the
individuals and they go out there, they try to gel under quick circumstances
and help each other out. We'll see. We'll give it our best shot, that's for
sure."
Landon Donovan knows a thing or two about All-Star Games having been voted to
an MLS-record 12th appearance this year. The Los Angeles Galaxy star echoed
Olsen's mentality, but believes his All-Star teammates still have the
motivation necessary to pull off the desired result.
"It's an All-Star Game at the end of the day," Donovan said. "But I think guys
take some pride in it. And it's good to have guys who are experiencing it for
the first time because they're probably a little bit more excited than guys
who have been there before.
"I think we're going to be a lot more competitive this time around."
The Sports Network