MLS All-Stars take a 3-2 victory over West Ham United!

BUT, more importantly, there was a jersey swap at the end of the game. A big thank you to ESPN for capturing it! Hey MLS, if you wanna increase your female fan base, start promoting the traditional jersey swap at the end of a match!

Ahhh, poor guy.

Seriously, it was a great game, great crowd, great Nash announcement. Yes, I mean Steve Nash of the NBA. And no, he’s not pulling a Michael Jordan and playing another professional sport, but he’ll be involved with the MLS expansion team out of Vancouver…in three years!

Now only if people had known the game was on, then there’d be some buzz at the water cooler tomorrow!

Annie

UPDATE - Surprising move by not having Estelle perform inside BMO Field as it looks like they set up a separate stage outside.

Nope, no Kanye, but The Commish just announced that B. McBride’s situation has been sorted. Announcement to come tomorrow.

And could someone tell this ref that it’s an All-Star Game and NOT a World Cup?  Take a breath, there’s a reason why you don’t have your name on the back of your red jersey.

43rd minute and Estelle’s about to hit the stage, but will Kanye join?

PS - Blanco’s assist on Christian Gomez’ goal and his far post bender at that angle to beat West Ham’s Robert Green??? Seriously??

Yes there is a MLS All-Star match! And I’ll be damned, it’s on tonight!

I know, I know, you may have not heard about it either! I’ve been a fan of MLS since 2000 and even as a fan, I really have to be paying attention to get all the gets. Yeah, I get it - the League is still young and has its challenges with budget restrictions, but there needs to be more buzz and promos other than what’s on MLSnet.com, especially when you’ve got Donovan and Becks leading MLS vs. West Ham United.

I do think the international match-up instead of the traditional East vs. West was a good move by the League, showing how MLS talent measures up globally. But, if fans don’t know the match is being played, what does it matter?! So, tune in tonight, especially you ladies! I can’t guarantee the guys will do a jersey exchange when it ends, but how will you know if you don’t tune in?

Watch it live or set your DVRs: 7pm ET on ESPN, Telefutura and ESPN360.com.

Annie

images via Blogs

The fine folks over at Complex are once again showing our game some love. They found these limited edition, golden adidas Predator’s that David Beckham will be rocking in tonight’s All Star Game. Not a bad look for Becks. Definitely one that very few players should ever attempt to pull off, but when your already known as Goldenballs, this is a no brainer. Eurosport has 2,000 pairs available, and apparently Dick’s Sporting Goods will carry a similar, but lower priced point version. Scoop some here. More pics after the jump.

[Source Complex]

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World Supporter’s Cup is an event we do in the Fan Development department. It’s the 2nd year that it has been done, starting last year.

We’ve got 8 clubs represented and this is West Ham vs Real Madrid. The idea is to bring fans of international teams together with MLS team fans at the All-star game and TFC is the MLS club represented obviously.

This is just one thing that is a part of the All-Star Soccer Jam. As you can see from the pic, BMO Field is in the background. Celebrity soccer-tennis was cancelled earlier due to rain. I was planning on taking the title with Alejandro Moreno as my teammate.

Dante

Our cohort and fellow DP Shawn over at The Offside Rules hipped us to the fact that MLS Insider will be Twittering away from Toronto during the All Star Festivities. Definitely the best way I can think of to stay in the loop with all that will be taking place up in Toronto.  Click here to subscribe to the Twitter feed.

With Jonathan Bornstein, Steve Ralston and Juan Toja named to Stevie Nicol’s roster (replacing outgoing Olympic Team Member’s Michael Parkhurst, Sacha Kljestan and Robbie Rogers) for the All-Star Game in Toronto, MLS has released it’s Non-Active All-Star Roster.

Goalkeepers (2): Jon Busch (Chicago Fire), Greg Sutton (Toronto FC).

Defenders (4): Michael Parkhurst* (New England Revolution), Gonzalo Segares (Chicago Fire), Bakary Soumare (Chicago Fire), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC).

Midfielders (6): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Amado Guevara (Toronto FC), Sacha Kljestan* (Chivas USA), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew), Robbie Rogers* (Columbus Crew).

Forwards (2): Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Luciano Emilio (D.C. United)

MLS is obligated to name two FULL All-Star via it’s Player’s Union Agreement that was forged when MLS went to it’s MLS vs Insert World Team Here format.

A LOT of player’s have bonus structures regarding being named to an All-Star Team in their contracts, which was the reasoning behind the initial agreement.

image via Whufcusa

Stevie Nicol’s starting XI has been set for MLS’ match-up against West Ham United on July 24th at BMO Field in Toronto.

The usual suspects have been named and a few surprises as well.

2008 MLS All-Star First XI

Goalkeeper: Matt Reis (New England Revolution)

Defenders: Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution)

Midfielders: David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Chicago Fire), Shalrie Joseph (New England Revolution), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)

Forwards: Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Nicol and his staff will still have the ability to add 5 more players to the game day roster, while the Commish has his 2 picks and all are expected to name names later this week (and trust me, they already know who they are).

image via Images

Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts, Utah Governor John Huntsman Jr. and Sandy City Mayor Tom Dolan got together this morning in Utah to announce that MLS has rewarded Real Salt Lake the 2009 MLS All-Star Game for building their own soccer specific stadium.

via MLSNET

“The decision to call Utah home of the 2009 MLS All-Star Game represents precisely the type of opportunity that this Stadium and this team seek to set into motion,” said Checketts. When we broke ground on that fateful August day in 2006, we knew that this Stadium would bring spectacular events to this community, and I cannot think of another event that exemplifies that idea more than this one. The eyes of the world will focus on the majestic Wasatch Mountains and stare in wide wonder. World-class players will witness the passion of our fans, and travelers from across the country will fill the streets of this valley over three days next summer to celebrate this wonderful game.”

Nothing like hearing the boys talk about their All-Star choices for the upcoming game against West Ham United.