Behind The Scenes: 2009 MLS All Star Game

Portland's Timbers Army always accuses the Sounders organization of being manufactured. Well, you can't just show up and hope things run smoothly on game day without preparation and planning. This video has a brief glimpse into all the hard work that goes into making game day a special event.

The Streak Is Broken. Who Da Blame?

The MLS All Stars lost their first game to foreign opposition last night after winning five straight. The 1-1 draw sent the game to PK's and the Toffees prevailed. Some people may blame Freddie Ljungberg for the loss by missing his PK in the 6th round (including myself at first). But as I thought about it, I realized that a whole lot of these "All Stars" made mistakes or could have made plays to win the game for MLS. Here are some off the top of my head. Watch the highlights below to see for yourself.

1) Stuart Holden - A Gold Cup Final like mental breakdown gave Saha the Toffees only goal of the game.

2) Blanco - The guy had a great opportunity to shoot in the 21st minute that ended up killing a good attack. He also put in a weak free kick that Howard saw all the way. I guess his 30 yard run up doesn't work as well as it used to. Blanco never seemed to find the "magic" that he is known for.

3) Brad Davis - I know he scored the goal but it was a tap in. That doesn't excuse him from a whole night's worth of poor corners, poorer crosses and a MISSED PK! At least he scored on his chance...which leads me to the next player.

4) Landon Donovan - Easily the most explosive player on the field last night, the guy failed to score on an open goal off a great feed from Ljungberg. It was a Diego Forlan at ManU epic type miss. Howard can thank the post for the MVP trophy.

5) Commissioner Garber - As bad as it would have been to put David Beckham on the squad, DB7 is still a better player than a lot of guys on the All Star team. It would have been nice to have the Englishman's service from the wings, corners and on free kicks. And what's with the 7 sub rule? It didn't help having a limping Javi Morales out there for the end of the game. It made Landon have to move back to midfield and further away from the attack. That's not what we want out of our most dangerous player.

6) Davey Arnaud - Honestly, the guy didn't do anything out there. I hardly noticed him...until he missed his PK attempt.

7) Kasey Keller - He was mostly untested but he had his hands on Phil Neville's penalty kick and I originally thought he was going to parry it wide. I guess the guy has weak wrists because Neville's shot didn't look that hard.

8) Freddie Ljungberg - You could blame him for the loss, but he put in a very good 90 minutes and looked like the MLS's best player until Landon came in. His shot was weak, but now the Sounders know not to have him as their PK shooter. 0 for 2 for Freddie, which is probably why he wasn't in the original 5 shooters.

Watch the highlights below and let me know what you think.


English language highlights here. Full replay is available on ESPN360.com

The MLS All Star Game (Everton's away and Fredy's Boots)

Don't forget to watch tonight's MLS All Star game at 9:30 ET/6:30 PT on ESPN2/ESPN360 from Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy Utah. The MLS All Stars will be facing off against U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard and the rest of his Everton squad. A few MLS players will be wearing their own personalized boots for the occasion, including the shoe shown below belonging to a certain Fredy Montero. You can now personalize your own boots at Mi Adidas. I could see White Kix breaking the bank for Stuart Holden's new kicks. Nike has been doing this for years so it's nice to see Adidas catching up

I'm also interested in seeing if Everton wears their new away kits. They probably won't be, but now is as good as time as any to drop these pics I've been sitting on of the clubs new softer away image. Seriously? I can imagine wearing pink while defending your home grounds... but wearing pink away trying to steal points? I can hear the taunts now.

Freddie Ljungberg On His All-Star Selection

Five minutes with Freddie Ljungberg. Again, The Other Underwear Model™ says that MLS is on par with the Dutch league.

Extra Time: First XI - All-Stars Revealed

Here are the first 11 players chosen for the All-Star game at Rio Tinto Stadium on July 29th.
Goalkeeper - Kasey Keller
Defenders - Chad Marshall, Wilman Conde, Geoff Cameron
Midfielders - Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Freddie Ljungberg, Shalrie Joseph, Stuart Holden, Dwayne DeRosario
Forwards - Landon Donovan, Conor Casey