Showcasing MLS

This week marks the halfway point for Major League Soccer with the MLS All-Star game, which took place in front of twenty thousand at the home stadium for Real Salt Lake. Taking on foriegn clubs has become the tradition for this game, and this year the all-stars were taking on Everton FC from northwest England. The game is truely a cosmopolitan event, as players from both sides are from a lot of different countries.
The all-stars were quickly schooled on the skill and class of the English Premier League club when Stuart Holden turned the ball over to Louis Saha in his own area, and the Frenchman put his team up 1-0 in the first 12 minutes. Brad Davis would equalize 13 minutes later when Conner Casey used his size to control a long ball from famed Mexican international Blanco. Davis ended up at the far post on the end of a low ball from Casey and it was 1-1. The MLSers had multiple chances to go ahead, notably from Casey and Landon Donovan, who was all alone at the six yard box in the 76th minute, couldn't beat the Everton and US number one Tim Howard. The game would end tied at the end of 90, and go to penalty kicks. After an impressive display of goalkeeping from Howard and US veteran Kasey Keller, Everton became the first foreign club to defeat the MLS All-Stars when Howard made a save against Swedish veteran and current Seattle Sounder Freddie Ljunberg.
This was a good showing despite the loss for MLS. Everton were probably their toughest opponent yet. They still outplayed the Toffies and could have easily won the shootout. The unspoken purpose of this game, however, is to show MLS talent off to top level foriegn clubs, and this didn't really happen this year. MLS standout are already known to these European clubs. Donovan and Keller are Americans who have come to MLS after stints across the Atlantic, and Ljunberg was a standout at Arsenal for years. The game was certainly a showcase for US goalkeeping though, as Tim Howard was named MVP.