The MLS All-Star Game
They just hope fans enjoyed spectacle
against Real Madrid was a spectacle for fans but also showed the league’s growth.
One of the main talking points after Major League Soccer’s AllStar Game was whether MLS proved it could hang with the best team in Europe. What did the 1-1 (4-2 in penalties) loss to Real Madrid say about the league?
The Wednesday night game was competitive and entertaining for a sellout crowd of 61,428 at Soldier Field, but the final score was not the focus of those who played the game.
“I mean, listen, that’s a tricky question because we realize Real Madrid is in preseason, we realize that a lot of their so-called first team didn’t play,” said Dax McCarty, who was born in Winter Park and plays for the Chicago Fire. “Clearly the MLS is certainly getting better every season, no question about it. I think the main purpose of this game is to try to have fun, try to enjoy. It’s a spectacle for the fans.
“Overall, you can see the quality of MLS is getting better every year. Real Madrid is probably one of the best teams in the world. The fact that it was 1-1, I think that says a lot. It was an entertaining game back and forth, but, ya know, it’s an exhibition game. It’s a friendly, so I don’t think it’s really fair to judge how good or bad MLS is based on this game.”
Captain of the MLS All-Stars, Bastian Schweinsteiger, said it’s not easy to compare the two teams or weigh one against the other. On one side, a group of standouts in a growing league were thrown together for four days and mixed a couple training sessions in between a