Editorial: Looking Back On the 2014 MLS All-Star Game (VIDEO)

This is the MLS Multiplex on the FanSided Network of sports news, sports analysis, sports…awesomeness. And a whole lot more, we have it all here for you here on FanSided and the Plex! So, we have finally made to the final installment of our series of reflections of the MLS All-Star Games that have taken place throughout the course of our league’s short, yet illustrious history.

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Tomorrow, the next chapter in the history of Major League Soccer begins with the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. But today, let’s take a look back at the 2014 MLS All-Star Game, which took place before a crowd of 21,733 at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon. The MLS All-Stars were hoping to bounce back in a big way against Bayern Munich.

Bayern featured the bulk of the Germany men’s national team who won the FIFA World Cup weeks ago in Philip Lahm, Manuel Neuer, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Mueller, Mario Goetze and Jerome Boateng. Other key players for Die Bayern included Robert Lewandowski, Franck Ribery, Rafinha, Arjen Robben (who also featured in a previous All-Star Game for Chelsea), Xherdan Shaqiri, Thiago Alcantara, Pierre Højbjerg and Julian Green, one of the rising stars for the USA Men’s National Team.

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As for the MLS All-Stars, it would be the last hurrah for Landon Donovan and Thierry Henry. Other key players for the MLS selection included Robbie Keane, Tim Cahill, Dom Dwyer, Erick Torres, Bradley Wright Phillips, DeAndre Yedlin, Diego Valeri, Obafemi Martins, Bill Hamid, Graham Zusi, Michael Bradley, Kyle Beckerman, Will Johnson, Maurice Edu, Jermain Defoe, Omar Gonzalez, Michael Parkhurst, Bobby Boswell and Chad Marshall.

This MLS All-Star Team featured the Defender of the Year (Marshall), the Goalkeeper of the Year (Hamid), the Golden Boot winner (Wright-Phillips), the Goal of the Year winner (Martins), and the MLS League and MLS Cup MVP (Keane). And it was, without question, a side that, with proper chemistry, would do reasonably well in the Premier League or Bundesliga. However, Defoe, Keane, Marshall and Gonzalez were injured and would not be available to play. Fortunately, with depth the All-Stars had, their presence was not necessary.

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Lewandowski opened up the scoring with a screamer in the eighth minute of play to give Die Bayern a 1-0 lead going into halftime. But in the second half, the MLS All-Stars proceeded to school Europe’s finest. Wright-Phillips delivered the equalizer in the 51st minute, a testament his scoring form that would see him tie the regular season goals record of 27 set previously by Roy Lassiter and Chris Wondolowski. Then it was Landon Donovan to show that even though he is walking from the game, he would do it with style, scoring in the 70th minute with the match winner. One minute later, Donovan came out and was replaced by Dwyer,

Of course, the match outcome didn’t satisfy Bayern Guardiola, and it would take time before he and Caleb Porter finally shook hands. Nonetheless, the 2-1 victory would be a statement win heard across the pond, as if the MLS were saying, “We may not have the number of Everton, or Roma, or even the Red Devil roughnecks from Manchester United (bless their hearts and Chicharito), but on any given day, we can make the champions of Europe and Germany know their place in the big picture. Cue the mic drop. You’re picking it up, mates, and we’re headin’ on outta here.”

And that concludes our series of reflections on the past 19 MLS All-Star Games here on the MLS Multiplex. Tune in tomorrow for coverage of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft here on the Plex, part of your FanSided Network. You don’t want to miss a beat of the action!