Major League Soccer fans have voted Landon Donovan's four-goal outburst at the 2001 MLS All-Star Game as the best All-Star MVP performance in a poll conducted on MLSnet.com over the last week.
The league's golden boy lit up the scoreboard at Spartan Stadium to help produce the second highest scoring MLS All-Star Game in history, a 6-6 draw between the East and the West. Donovan didn't waste any time making his presence felt before the 23,000 fans in attendance, starting the game off in style with a natural hat trick in the first 19 minutes of action. He would later cap the game by providing the tying goal two minutes into stoppage time to set the record for most goals by a single player in the midsummer showcase.
However, while many remember Donovan's exceptional output on that day, more probably remember his colorful goal celebration. Following the lead of Miami Fusion All-Star Jim Rooney, Donovan ripped off his shirt after his fourth goal to reveal a memorable tribute to U.S. women's national team star Brandi Chastain. Beneath his All-Star jersey, the Redlands, Calif., native wore a sports bra similar to the one that Chastain made famous when she ripped her shirt off following her decisive goal in a penalty kick shootout that helped the U.S. women to the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup title.
With Donovan accumulating a massive 68 percent of the vote, he was the runaway winner in the poll. Coming in a distant second place was MetroStars midfielder Amado Guevara's two goal and one assist outing in 2004, which received seven percent of the vote. On an extremely hot day in the nation's capital, Guevara notched a brace in the opening half to help the East All-Stars to a 3-2 win against their competitors from the West.
Right behind Guevara with six percent was Columbus Crew forward Brian McBride, who scored a goal and added two assists as the MLS USA All-Stars defeated the MLS World team in 1998 in Orlando, Fla.
None of the other candidates in the poll received more than four percent of the vote, though Carlos Valderrama (1996 and 1997 MVP) received a combined five percent. Also receiving votes were Preki (1999), Mamadou Diallo (2000), Marco Etcheverry (2002) and Carlos Ruiz (2003).
Jonathan Nierman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
