American soccer may still be behind Baseball, American football and Basketball in the states but the one place where it is streets ahead of the other sports here is in the All-Star game.

            When MLS first started it followed the tradition of other US sports all star games by creating and East against West game that showcased all of the talent in the league and allowed the players to get together and have an enjoyable weekend culminating in a game where you were you would be more likely to see a pig flying than a participant actually playing some defense. Score lines like the 6-6 draw in 2001 or a 9-4 eastern conference victory in 2000 were testament to that and MLS, much like the NFL in particular had created a game that was full of stars but generated a poor spectacle for the common fan.

            MLS did try other ways of making the game work like playing the US based all-stars against the rest of the world in 1998 but I believe this kind of method could easily have caused a divide between the best players in the league and was quite rightly scrapped.

             MLS finally realized they could cash in on something most other sports in America can't: that soccer is a worldwide sport and MLS could really put themselves on the world map by taking on some of the best teams from other leagues and countries. (I just don't see the NFL taking on the Canadian League attracting the same kind of interest).

            The first all-star game against foreign opposition was in 2003 and pitted the best from MLS against Mexican powerhouse CD Guadalajara and was a success with the MLS running out 3-1 winners and the Home Depot Center was a complete sell-out.

            After a brief return to the old east and west method in 2004 MLS recognized that pitting its best players against Premier League teams would go a long way to show that MLS is a quality league and prove some of those English be-grudgers and doubters wrong.

That is exactly what the league did as they beat Fulham USA and followed that up the next year with an even more impressive 1-0 win over Chelsea. The countless goals of the early all-star games had been replaced with a team sweating blood for the cause as they recognized they were representing not just themselves, but their entire league. It showed the pride the all-stars selected for the games had in MLS and they were hell bent on giving a good account of their league as the reputation of the soccer in this country was arguably on the line. It was a calculated risk on the part of MLS because a crushing defeat in any of these games could have left the reputation of the league in tatters.

             MLS all-stars also defeated Celtic last year to make it a perfect four from four against foreign opposition and hopefully that tradition can continue this year against a West Ham side with the likes of England International Dean Ashton and players like Scott Parker and Craig Bellamy who commanded transfer fees in excess of $10 million dollars.

 People can argue that these teams are only in pre season but you can bet that West Ham players will be fighting for their starting spots on opening day in the Premier League after a sub-par season last time out.  

The Hammers will provide a difficult test but with the likes of Landon Donovan and David Beckham in the side MLS will again fancy their chances of slaying foreign opposition and proving that MLS is continuing to head in the right direction with their all star game. NFL,NBA and co take note.