MLS All-Star Game
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 NBA, NFL, and MLB. In six out of nine 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.
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 match against Fulham.
Results
- 1996 East 3, West 2 East Rutherford, New Jersey
- 1997 East 5, West 4 East Rutherford, New Jersey
- 1998 MLS USA 6, MLS World 1 Orlando, Florida
- 1999 West 6, East 4 San Diego, California
- 2000 East 9, West 4 Columbus, Ohio
- 2001 East 6, West 6 San Jose, California
- 2002 MLS 3, USA 2 Washington, D.C.
- 2003 MLS 3, Chivas 1 Carson, California
- 2004 East 3, West 2 Washington, D.C.
- 2005 MLS 4, Fulham 1 Columbus, Ohio
Previous results
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
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