It's the toughest All-Star test yet for Major League Soccer, as the MLS squad hosts two-time defending English Premier League champion Chelsea FC on Saturday (6:30 p.m. ET; ESPN) at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill.
For the fourth time, the best in MLS are facing off against a club or national team, and they've won each of those matchups thus far, beating the U.S. national team in 2002, Chivas of Guadalajara (Mexico) in 2003 and Fulham FC (England) last year. But for all the talent on those teams, none holds a candle to Chelsea, replete with many of the world's best players.
"Sure, we're an all-star team, but we're (about) to play a world all-star team," Houston Dynamo defender and first-time MLS All-Star Eddie Robinson said. "It's going to be very exciting to be able to say you played against those guys."
Chelsea just started their preseason regimen a week ago, flying to Los Angeles on July 26 to train on the campus of UCLA for a week before traveling to the Windy City on Thursday. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has been putting his side through its paces, with most days consisting of morning and afternoon sessions.
With several players who played in the FIFA World Cup in Germany in June having just joined the club this week in Los Angeles, Mourinho has had very little time to get the club in shape.
"This preseason is quite an experience for me because with the whole group, I have 12 days," he said during a press conference at Toyota Park on Friday. "Preseason - 12 days; it's amazing. It's very difficult."
Mourinho said the World Cup players will likely not see more than 45 minutes of action. He said he will use all of his players except the five youngsters he brought along; they'll be mere spectators barring an injury to one of his senior team players. Mourinho also said he will try a couple of different formations during the game.
Still, Nowak said he expects Chelsea not to sacrifice a result in favor of experimentation.
"Teams like Chelsea or Real Madrid or Barcelona, the big teams, they don't want to lose and they don't want to show that coming here for training camp is a vacation for them," MLS All-Star and D.C. United head coach Peter Nowak said. "We have to expect that they're going to be ready."
The Blues are still working their way toward top form, and Saturday's match will be their first test of the summer. The MLS side was able to benefit from that same scenario last year, outrunning a weary Fulham squad in the second half to claim a 4-1 win, but this year's All-Stars don't expect Chelsea's fitness, or lack thereof, to be much of an advantage this time around.
"Not being in top form for these guys is still pretty top-class, top-notch," Robinson said. "From what I understand, Jose Mourinho is very adamant about putting his best team on the field and giving us a good run for our money. And I think they will, you know, regardless that it's preseason for them.
"These are still some of the best players in the world. Maybe they're not at 100 percent of their game, but their 95 percent is better than most of the world."
Nowak said all of the talk about Chelsea only getting started with their preseason training a week ago cannot be trusted.
"Knowing how they prepare and how they were prepared last year [against D.C. United], they're going to be fully fit," he said. "There's just some smoke around them, saying 'We are not prepared. We are in the preseason.' Don't believe them."
The west London club has quickly risen to the ranks of the world's elite over the past three years, thanks in large part to the mammoth coffers of Russian owner Roman Abramovich. After unprecedented transfer spending, Chelsea have become the king of the mountain in England, where they've won two consecutive EPL titles by comfortable margins.
Success in Europe has been harder to come by, though, as the Blues were knocked out in the semifinals by English rivals Liverpool in 2005 and by Spanish giants Barcelona in the round-of-16 this past season. Mourinho has made an effort to remedy that this summer, signing Germany captain Michael Ballack on a free transfer and luring Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko away from AC Milan.
The MLS All-Stars have had just two training sessions to prepare for Saturday's test, one on Thursday afternoon and another Friday morning. Despite the brief amount of time the players have had to get used to playing with one another, they're upbeat about their talent and their chances against the Blues.
"How much can you really go over? We're all good smart players; we're here for a reason," said Kansas City Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad. "All Peter has to do is make sure we're in good shape. It's just a matter of going out there and keeping the ball a little bit."
Said Chicago Fire forward Nate Jaqua: "Peter's done a good job of telling us what he expects for us. I think we'll be ready."
Against a powerhouse like Chelsea, the All-Stars will have to keep things simple, eschewing complicated strategy and relying on their ability.
"You think I can talk about tactics when they've only had three days?" asked Nowak. "This is a very talented group of players -- very young players with a lot to learn. But being competitive -- even if the soccer part is not great -- being competitive you have always in your heart. If you use your brain and appear like a team, it's going to be fine."
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
