Showcase with Liga MX yields perfect answer to MLS All-Star Game question
By Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist
Major League Soccer has tried a lot of things for its All-Star Game. East v. West was the gig for a while before that was ditched, revisited and then pushed aside again.
One year, a collection of MLS’s best players took on the United States national team. Since 2005, it has been in vogue to invite a high-profile European club squad to play as part of their preseason, with the visitors ranging in quality from Fulham, Everton and Celtic to Manchester United, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
After Wednesday night, the search for the ideal formula is over. The battle between the best of MLS and an All-Star lineup from Mexico’s Liga MX had spice and spirit and, more than anything, a sense of genuine engagement.
And at the end of it, there was a perfectly scripted finish.
Ricardo Pepi is an ultra-talented 18-year-old from FC Dallas, with enough ability that both the U.S. and Mexico national programs have been fighting over him. Midway through All-Star night, FOX’s Stuart Holden confirmed that Pepi has ended the wait and will this week be named to the U.S. roster for its upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Soon after, a thrilling and error-strewn penalty kick shootout was decided by Pepi slamming home the clinching kick.
To stay up to date on all things MLS, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!
This was an All-Star Game with a special difference because, simply put, it mattered. It mattered to the players on the field and to the fans at Banc of California Stadium, from those waving Mexican flags and screaming themselves hoarse for the guests from south of the border to the American soccer die-hards seeking further proof that MLS is gaining in international stature.
In the nascent days of MLS, there were All-Star Game scorelines of 5-4, 6-4, 9-4 and 6-6. That was never going to happen here. Sure, there were substitutions aplenty to give everyone some playing time, but this was a proper game with actual defense played, and for a very good reason: Neither team wanted to lose.
Any time the United States and Mexico play at soccer, in any guise, bragging rights are on the line. This wasn’t a World Cup qualifier, and indeed, each team included players from other countries, but this was both a valid measure of how quickly MLS is narrowing the gap on Liga MX and a solid piece of entertainment in its own right.
To stay up to date on all things Liga MX, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!
"This is part of a broader relationship between Liga MX and Major League Soccer," MLS commissioner Don Garber told FOX soccer analyst Alexi Lalas on the FS1 broadcast, stopping short of accepting that a future in which the two leagues merge is likely.
Either way, more collaboration — with a situation such as this seemingly the perfect example — appears guaranteed.
Perhaps appropriately for a contest that was finely balanced and gathered steam as it went along, the match was decided by penalties following a 1-1 tie in regulation.
Goalkeeper Matt Turner came up big for MLS, with two key saves, and he was assisted by Erik Lira blazing one way over the crossbar. The nerves were contagious, with veteran star Nani also missing horribly when presented with the chance to win it for the hosts.
Ultimately, that merely set the stage for Pepi, who looks every bit a star of the future — perhaps the very near future. His decisive strike, with a sliver of assistance from the underside of the crossbar, was calm, composed and a fitting finish.
Earlier, Liga MX opened scoring on 21 minutes, with Cruz Azul’s Jonathan Rodriguez neatly collecting a cross from the right, wrong-footing his defender and sliding the ball home.
But the MLS group responded strongly as the pace of the contest gradually increased. LAFC’s Jesús Murillo headed home the equalizer in the 53rd minute, thanks to a pinpoint driven corner from club colleague Eduard Atuesta.
As the intensity grew, so did some fragments of animosity, with three yellow cards — uncharacteristic for an All-Star exhibition — doled out in the second half.
Yet the final blow, Pepi’s, was a sweet one, a delightful strike to cap a dream story, ending an All-Star experience worthy of the name, and one that will hopefully be repeated.
Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. You can subscribe to the daily newsletter here.
