MLS Draws an All-Star Crowd
Before Coach Thomas Rongen sent his players onto the Giants Stadium field Sunday, he wrote something on the locker room blackboard.
“You are a part of history.”
And, after his Eastern Conference team had defeated Coach Lothar Osiander’s Western Conference squad, 3-2, in the first Major League Soccer All-Star game in front of a record 78,416, Rongen explained why.
“Winning or losing wasn’t important,” he said. “I think the big winners are obviously soccer and the MLS players. It’s another milestone for the game in this country. We’ve come such a long way in the last six months, it’s just incredible.”
But the victory had to be especially satisfying for Rongen, whose Tampa Bay Mutiny team is in first place in the East. Mutiny midfielder Carlos Valderrama was selected player of the game and Mutiny defender Steve Pittman scored the game-winning goal.
“I’m happy for both of those players,” Rongen said. “The response to Valderrama shows that he is the marquee player in this league.”
The Galaxy’s Jorge Campos might take issue with that, but Campos had to be content Sunday with adding another unusual line or two to his already bizarre soccer resume. He played 45 minutes for the MLS’s Western Conference All-Stars and another 45 for the FIFA World Stars, who lost to Brazil’s Olympic team, 2-1, in the second game of the historic doubleheader.
John Harkes, the U.S. national team and Washington D.C. United captain, was the only other player to appear in both games, but he at least finished on the winning side once.
“The crowd was outstanding and the game was OK,” Osiander said. “They had the better midfield, we had the better counters [counter-attacks], but we couldn’t finish. End of story.”
New York/New Jersey MetroStar midfielder Tab Ramos scored the first goal, collecting a pass from Valderrama in the 14th minute and beating Campos with a powerful shot from about 10 yards.
Twenty minutes later, the Kansas City Wiz’s Preki tied it with a perfectly placed shot into the upper-left corner of MetroStar keeper Tony Meola’s net. The Galaxy’s Mauricio Cienfuegos got the assist.
The Dallas Burn’s Jason Kreis, who played a mistake-free game and is challenging strongly for a place on the U.S. national team, combined on a give-and-go series of passes with the Galaxy’s Eduardo Hurtado in the 37th minute, scoring easily.
Osiander brought on his entire bench at the start of the second half, except for the injured Marcelo Balboa, but the East, substituting at more leisurely intervals, took control. The MetroStars’ Giovanni Savarese tied it at 2-2 in the 69th minute, scoring from close range after Campos’ replacement, Mark Dodd of the Burn, blocked a fierce crossing pass but could not hold onto the ball.
Pittman ended any chance of a shootout by taking another fine pass from Valderrama and dodging a couple of defenders before slotting the ball past Dodd with only two minutes left on the clock.
Despite the loss, Osiander said he is not opposed to the all-star concept.
“I think it’s a recognition of the better players in the league,” he said. “It’s a very American institution because of the other sports. Years ago, they didn’t have any international competition, so they had an all-star game. For [soccer], it’s not really all that relevant because we do have international competition and therefore our outstanding players are seen and recognized.”
If Rongen has his way, there will be more such players joining MLS before next year’s All-Star game.
“I think if we go to 22 players on each roster next year and add one more international player on each team it might make sense,” he said. “Too, if we can get our better American players who are still abroad--Claudio Reyna, Joe-Max Moore and Kasey Keller--to come back, the level will rise even more.”
