Starting on Wednesday, Major League Soccer fans can select the 11 players they would like to see take on English Premier League club West Ham United FC in the 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game. Official online voting to select the MLS All-Star First XI is now open at the league's official Web site www.mlsnet.com.
The 13th annual MLS midsummer showcase will bring together Major League Soccer's best for a marquee matchup on July 24, 2008, versus historic East London club West Ham United at BMO Field in Toronto, Canada, the home of Toronto FC. The game will be televised in the U.S. and Canada on ESPN2, Telefutura and CBC Sports at 7 p.m. ET.
Fans can vote for the All-Star First XI online at www.mlsnet.com by selecting one goalkeeper, three defenders, five midfielders, and two forwards. Fans can vote up to 10 times per day. The online fan balloting program, which concludes on Wednesday, July 2, will comprise 25 percent of the total vote for the All-Star First XI, with coaches and general managers, players, and media each holding 25 percent of the vote to combine for the remaining 75 percent.
This year's All-Star team will take on West Ham United, who boasts a roster full of international talent, highlighted by the captains of Sweden, Australia and Wales - Freddie Ljungberg, Lucas Neill and Craig Bellamy. The club also has several England internationals including Robert Green, Matthew Upson, Scott Parker and Kieron Dyer plus American defender Jonathan Spector and Portuguese forward Luis Boa Morte. West Ham United features one of soccer's most recognizable jerseys, with the claret body and sky blue sleeves. The team is affectionately known as the "Hammers," a reference to its origin as the company team for Thames Ironworks. West Ham United finished in the top half of the English Premier League table with 49 points for the 2007-2008 season.
This year marks the fifth time that MLS All-Stars have taken on a high-profile international opponent in the MLS All-Star game. In 2003 the MLS All-Stars defeated Mexican club CD Guadalajara 3-1, in 2005 claimed a victory over English opponents Fulham 4-1, in 2006 beat English power Chelsea FC 1-0 and last year they defeated Scottish Premier League front-runners Celtic FC 2-0 on goals from New York Red Bulls striker Juan Pablo Angel and FC Dallas midfielder Juan Toja. The format of the Pepsi All-Star game makes it arguably the most competitive all-star game in American professional sports.
The announcement schedule for the 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Team is as follows. Dates are subject to change.
• Wednesday, May 14 - Online fan voting begins
• Monday, May 19 - All-Star Game media credential registration begins
• Monday, June 30 - All-Star Coach announced (decided by team with the most points per game as of June 29th)
• Wednesday, July 2 - Online balloting ends
• Thursday, July 10 - All-Star 'First XI' announced
• Tuesday, July 15 - All-Star reserves announced
