Editorial: Looking Back On the 1998 MLS All-Star Game (VIDEO)
Readers of the MLS Multiplex, here on the FanSided Network, we are inching closer and closer to a brand new year full of Major League Soccer extravaganza-style mania. Today, we continue our look back at the past 19 MLS All-Star Games that took place with our reflections of the 1998 MLS All-Star Game. The match took place on my 14th birthday, Aug. 2, 1998, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla. Esse Bahamast was the man in charge, and 34,416 braved the heat and occasional showers for this one-sided rout, a 6-1 result to the Americans.
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The format for the 1998 All-Star Game was a whole lot different this time around. The two teams duking it out were the MLS USA All-Stars and MLS World All-Stars. On the heels of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, an event which would see the USA Men’s National Team go through its darkest hours, the MLS USA All-Stars were hoping to take their frustrations out on their global counterparts. The Americans were led by a talented corps of players, including Cobi Jones, Alexi Lalas, Tony Meola, Eddie Pope, John Harkes, Frankie Hejduk, Tab Ramos, Brian McBride, Preki, Jeff Agoos, Chris Armas, Ben Olsen, Marcelo Balboa and Roy Lassiter.
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Meanwhile, the MLS World All-Stars had their share of talent, such as Jorge Campos, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Carlos Valderrama, Raul Diaz Arce, Jaime Moreno, Marco Etcheverry, Lubos Kubik and Stern John. However, in the end they would be a team of lambs led out to slaughter by an opposition that would show no mercy after the likes of Germany, Yugoslavia (now Serbia) and Iran schooled them to death.
Ramos opened up the scoring in this contest in the fifth minute of play, and Lalas would double up the lead 15 minutes in. Less than a minute later, McBride would make it 3-0 to the USA All-Stars and in the 40th minute, Preki made it 4-0 to the Americans.
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Goals from Lassiter (78′) and Jones (83′) finished off the hopeless overmatched World All-Stars, who were unfortunate to have no one from the German, Iranian, or Yugoslavian national teams in their lineup. Bolivian substitute Mauricio Ramos pulled one back in the 89th minute, but by then, the damage was done. McBride was named the game MVP for his performance.
Come back tomorrow to the MLS Multiplex, where we look back at the 1999 MLS All-Star Game, and where a more competitive edition took place,