In East All-Star Victory, MLS Stands for ‘Many Like Scoring’
Carlos Valderrama did it again.
Major League Soccer’s most valuable player in the 1996 All-Star game repeated the feat in the 1997 game.
The Colombian magician scored one goal and set up two others Wednesday night as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 5-4, in a match as wild and as woolly as Valderrama’s famous hairstyle.
It was a game of dramatic shifts. The West starters built a 2-0 first-half lead against the East starters, with Dante Washington opening the scoring and Galaxy goalkeeper Jorge Campos netting a spectacular second goal.
Then, after the reserves came in, the East rattled off four consecutive second-half goals by Valderrama, Giuseppe Galderisi, Robert Warzycha and Richie Williams to take a 4-2 lead after 70 minutes.
But the West fought back and tied it at 4-4 with Digital Takawira and the Galaxy’s Cobi Jones scoring.
Finally, in the 88th minute, Brian McBride netted the winner to send the rain-soaked Giants Stadium crowd of 24,816 home happy.
“That must be the way the game was played 100 years ago, and don’t let me hear anyone say did I see it back then?” joked Ron Newman, the Kansas City Wizards’ veteran coach who ran the West.
“It was a lot of fun. It was perilous for defenders. And for coaches, probably. I mean, if we [always] played like that, we’d die on the bench. There were a lot of great goals, a lot of incredible misses, some bizarre things happening out there. But that’s entertainment.
“That’s what Bruce [Arena, the East coach] and I went out to do. I told everybody I didn’t want any hard tackling, I didn’t want to do anything special to mark anybody out of the game.
“I thought it was like the Alamo in the first half the way they were coming at us, but we survived and I was amazed to be 2-0 up. I was sort of chuckling at halftime. But in the second half the goals started coming and I thought we were going to get a drubbing. But suddenly we were back again and at 4-4 I thought we might go to a shootout. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
The emphasis was on attack all night, and it was Valderrama, playing the entire 90 minutes, who orchestrated the East’s second-half surge.
“Great player,” said Arena, the Washington D.C. United coach. “I think if I say any more, I’ll probably put my foot in my mouth.”
Added Newman: “If you give him that much room, he’s brilliant, isn’t he? He was magnificent. That’s what All-Star games are all about, letting players play.”
Afterward, with the glare of television lights bouncing off that mop of golden curls, Valderrama, of the Tampa Bay Mutiny, acknowledged that, yes, he had enjoyed himself.
“It rained, but the fans still came and it was our responsibility to give them some fun,” he said.
“You can’t ask for a better game, really,” said Frank Yallop of the Tampa Bay Mutiny. “That’s the whole thing about these games. You’ve got to have some fun and get the crowd into it. I’m sure they enjoyed it.”
Said Arena, enjoying his first coaching victory over Newman in five attempts: “Believe me, there was no coaching done in this game. The coaching that was done was to make sure that all the players got on the bus and that we had 11 players on the field.”
Campos’ goal, scored from a tough angle just before halftime, ignited the match, despite the wet weather.
“Do you think he aimed at that spot?” asked Newman.
No, he did not. “I just close my eyes and shoot,” said Campos, who later went back to his goalkeeping duties.
‘That was what we were hoping for,” Newman said. “That’s why we played him up front, so that he could maybe get a spectacular goal. And he did.”
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How Galaxy Players Fared
The Galaxy had three players in Wednesday’s 1997 MLS All-Star game at Giants Stadium. Here’s how they did:
* Mauricio Cienfuegos: Starter and creative playmaker as the West built a 2-0 lead by halftime.
* Jorge Campos: Scored tremendous goal against former Italian World Cup goalkeeper Walter Zenga.
* Cobi Jones: Scored goal that tied the score at 4-4 in 86th minute.
