2008 MLS All-Star Game

Pepsi 2008 MLS All-Star Game
Event	MLS All-Stars
Date	July 24, 2008
Venue	BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario
Man of the Match	Cuauhtémoc Blanco (MLS All-Stars)
Attendance	20,844
Weather	Partly cloudy, 22 °C (72 °F)
	← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the 13th annual MLS All-Star Game. The MLS All-Stars faced West Ham United of the English Premier League.^[1] The game was played on July 24, 2008, with the MLS winning 3–2. New England Revolution coach Steve Nicol coached the All-Stars.^[2] The motto for the 2008 MLS All-Star Game is "Major League Soccer Takes on the World." Chicago Fire's Cuauhtémoc Blanco was named MVP.^[3]

Host venue

MLS Commissioner Don Garber awarded the 2008 All-Star Game to Toronto, Ontario in 2007 on the eve of the 2007 MLS All-Star Game. The game was played in the new soccer-specific stadium, BMO Field and was the first MLS All-Star Game held in Canada. BMO Field is home to the MLS' 13th franchise, Toronto FC.^[4]

West Ham United

On April 4, 2008, the Major League Soccer website announced that Premier League club West Ham United would be the fifth international opponent for the marquee event. Founded in 1895, the east London club was originally called Thames Ironworks FC but switched to West Ham United five years later and has been playing at the Boleyn Ground since 1904. West Ham has forged a reputation of cultivating some of the England's top players, such as Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand, and Joe Cole, giving rise to its frequent reference as The Academy of Football.^[5]

MLS All-Stars

Voting

Major League Soccer released an official ballot to decide the players called to represent the league in the All-Star game. A four-tier voting system determined the First XI players selected for the game. The online fan balloting program comprised 25% of the total vote, with coaches and general managers (25%), players (25%), and media (25%) combining for the remaining 75% percent of the vote. The combined vote of the four groups determined the MLS First XI.^[6]

2008 All-Star Game Squads

Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer and Toronto FC, hosts of the 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game, unveiled the MLS All-Star First XI in a press conference aired live exclusively on MLSnet.com from BMO Field on Thursday, July 10 at 11 am ET.^[7] In addition to the First XI, Commissioner Don Garber picked two more players for the All-Star team, and coach Steve Nicol received five picks on July 15, 2008.^[8]

After the U.S. U-23 Olympic Team roster was announced, three additional picks were awarded to Steve Nicol on Thursday, July 17 to replace Michael Parkhurst, Sacha Kljestan, and Robbie Rogers. The additions included 2006 MLS Rookie of the Year Jonathan Bornstein, veteran Steve Ralston, and Colombian Juan Toja, who scored a goal in last year's All-Star Game.^[9]

As of July 19, 2008. Players in bold denotes First XI status.^[10] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	USA	Matt Reis
2	DF	USA	Frankie Hejduk
5	MF	ARG	Christian Gómez ~
7	MF	USA	Steve Ralston ~^[9]
8	MF	COL	Juan Toja ~^[9]
9	FW	COL	Juan Pablo Ángel ~
10	FW	USA	Landon Donovan
11	DF	CAN	Jim Brennan ~
12	DF	USA	Jimmy Conrad
13	DF	USA	Jonathan Bornstein ~^[9]
14	MF	CAN	Dwayne De Rosario †
17	FW	USA	Edson Buddle †
18	GK	CAN	Pat Onstad ~
21	MF	GRN	Shalrie Joseph


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
23	MF	ENG	David Beckham
25	MF	USA	Pablo Mastroeni ~
33	FW	USA	Kenny Cooper
70	MF	MEX	Cuauhtémoc Blanco
71	FW	ARG	Guillermo Barros Schelotto ♦
72	GK	USA	Jon Busch ♦
73	FW	USA	Brian Ching ♦
74	MF	USA	Maurice Edu ♦
75	FW	BRA	Luciano Emilio ♦
76	MF	USA	Sacha Kljestan ♦
77	DF	USA	Michael Parkhurst ♦
78	MF	USA	Robbie Rogers ♦
80	DF	CRC	Gonzalo Segares ♦
81	MF	MLI	Bakary Soumare ♦

~ – Players selected by coach

† – "Commissioner's Picks"

♦ – Inactive

MLS All-Star Head Coach – Steve Nicol

West Ham United

As of May 13, 2008.^[11] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ENG	Robert Green
2	DF	AUS	Lucas Neill (captain)
3	DF	NIR	George McCartney
4	DF	WAL	Daniel Gabbidon
5	DF	ENG	Anton Ferdinand
6	DF	ENG	Matthew Upson
7	MF	SWE	Freddie Ljungberg
8	MF	ENG	Scott Parker
9	FW	ENG	Dean Ashton
10	FW	WAL	Craig Bellamy
11	MF	ENG	Matthew Etherington
12	FW	ENG	Carlton Cole
14	DF	GHA	John Paintsil
16	MF	ENG	Mark Noble
17	MF	ENG	Hayden Mullins
18	DF	USA	Jonathan Spector


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	DF	WAL	James Collins
20	MF	FRA	Julien Faubert
21	GK	ENG	Richard Wright
22	MF	ENG	Tony Stokes
23	GK	ENG	James Walker
25	FW	ENG	Bobby Zamora
26	MF	SCO	Nigel Quashie
27	DF	ENG	Calum Davenport
28	MF	ENG	Kyel Reid
29	MF	ENG	Lee Bowyer
30	DF	ENG	James Tomkins
32	MF	ENG	Kieron Dyer
34	MF	POR	Luís Boa Morte
35	DF	ISL	Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson
39	MF	WAL	Jack Collison
40	FW	ENG	Freddie Sears

Match details

2008 MLS All-Star Game

July 24, 2008

19:25 EDT

MLS All-Stars	3–2	West Ham United
Gómez 27' Blanco 45' De Rosario 70' (pen.)	Report	Ashton 26', 67'

BMO Field, Toronto

Attendance: 20,844

Referee: Mauricio Navarro (Canada)

MLS All-Stars

West Ham United


GK	1	Matt Reis		70'
DF	2	Frankie Hejduk	56'	88'
DF	12	Jimmy Conrad (c)	82'
DF	13	Jonathan Bornstein	52'	88'
MF	5	Christian Gómez		59'
MF	8	Juan Toja		59'
MF	21	Shalrie Joseph
MF	23	David Beckham
MF	25	Pablo Mastroeni
FW	33	Kenny Cooper		46'
FW	70	Cuauhtémoc Blanco
Substitutes:
GK	18	Pat Onstad		70'
DF	11	Jim Brennan		59'
MF	7	Steve Ralston		88'
MF	14	Dwayne De Rosario		59'
FW	9	Juan Pablo Ángel		46'
FW	10	Landon Donovan		46'
FW	17	Edson Buddle		88'
Manager:
Steve Nicol


GK	1	Robert Green
DF	2	Lucas Neill (c)
DF	5	Anton Ferdinand
DF	27	Calum Davenport
DF	40	Joe Widdowson
MF	8	Scott Parker	45+1'
MF	11	Matthew Etherington		46'
MF	17	Hayden Mullins		65'
MF	20	Julien Faubert		75'
FW	9	Dean Ashton		80'
FW	12	Carlton Cole		90+1'
Substitutes:
GK	23	James Walker
DF	45	Jordan Spence
MF	13	Luís Boa Morte		46'
MF	22	Tony Stokes		90+1'
MF	28	Kyel Reid		80'
MF	31	Jack Collison		92'
MF	46	Junior Stanislas		75'
Manager:
Alan Curbishley

Man of the Match:
Cuauhtémoc Blanco^[3]

Assistant referees:
Héctor Vergara
Greg Barkey
Fourth official:
Mark Geiger

Notes

The 2008 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the first to be played in Canada.
For the first time Pepsi was the official sponsor of the All-Star Game. Previously, Sierra Mist, a Pepsi brand, was the advertised sponsor.
This was the fifth time that the league's best players faced international competition in the MLS All-Star Game.
For the second consecutive year New England Revolution coach Steve Nicol was the head coach for the MLS side.
Former CBC affiliate, then E! and now CityTV affiliate CHAT-TV in Medicine Hat, Alberta did not air the game, because of Calgary CBC station CBRT-TV, as well as online through live streaming on the CBC sports website.

References

^ Campbell, Morgan (March 13, 2008). "West Ham to face MLS all-stars". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
^ "New England's Nicol to coach All Stars". Major League Soccer. June 28, 2008. Archived from the original on August 4, 2008. Retrieved June 29, 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Blanco leads MLS past West Ham". mlsnet.com. July 24, 2008. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
^ "Toronto will host 2008 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game". Major League Soccer. July 18, 2007. Archived from the original on July 27, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
^ "MLS All-Stars to face West Ham United". Major League Soccer. April 3, 2008. Archived from the original on July 10, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
^ "2008 MLSNET.COM All-Star Ballot". Major League Soccer. 2008. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
^ "MLS All-Star First XI to be announced July 10". Major League Soccer. July 3, 2008. Archived from the original on August 4, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
^ "MLS Announces All-Star Roster". Major League Soccer. July 15, 2008. Archived from the original on July 18, 2008. Retrieved July 15, 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Three added to All-Star roster". Major League Soccer. July 17, 2008. Archived from the original on July 22, 2008. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
^ "MLS All-Star First XI announced". Major League Soccer. July 10, 2008. Archived from the original on July 13, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
^ "West Ham United Player Profiles". WHUFC.com. 2008. Archived from the original on January 13, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2008.