2009 MLS All-Star Game

The 2009 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the 14th annual MLS All-Star Game. The MLS All-Stars faced Everton of the Premier League on July 29, 2009.^[1] The match ended in a 1–1 draw at full-time and went to an immediate penalty shootout, which Everton won 4–3. Everton's Tim Howard--the United States first-choice goalkeeper and a former MetroStars player--was named MVP of the match, after making three saves during the shootout. This was the first win for an international club team in six tries against the MLS All-Stars, and remains Everton's last competitive trophy the club has won.^[2]

2009 MLS All-Star Game

Event	Major League Soccer All-Star Game
MLS All-Stars Everton 1 1
Everton won 4–3 on penalties
Date	July 29, 2009
Venue	Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
Man of the Match	Tim Howard (Everton)
Referee	Ricardo Salazar
Attendance	20,124
← 2008 2010 →

Host venue

Major League Soccer announced on July 9, 2008 that America First Field (then known as Rio Tinto Stadium), the League's newest soccer-specific venue, would host the 2009 MLS All-Star Game in the summer of 2009. MLS President Mark Abbott joined Real Salt Lake Owner David W. Checketts, Utah Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., and Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan at a press conference at the new Stadium to officially announce the event. This was the first MLS All-Star Game held in Utah.^[3]

MLS All-Stars voting

Like the previous year, the MLS All-Star First XI was determined by an online fan voting system which accounted for 25% of the total vote, with players, coaches and general managers, and the media each holding 25% of the vote. The fan voting period opened May 13, 2009 and ended July 6, 2009.^[4] Two weeks into the fan voting period, Seattle Sounders FC players made up nine of the 11 top vote-getters, with Kasey Keller as the overall leader in total votes.^[5]

After the end of the voting period, Freddie Ljungberg received the most fan votes. The fan's first XI included Kasey Keller(Seattle), Chad Marshall (Columbus), Wilman Conde (Chicago), Geoff Cameron (Houston), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus), Stuart Holden (Houston), Freddie Ljungberg (Seattle), Shalrie Joseph (New England), Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto), Conor Casey (Colorado), and Landon Donovan (Los Angeles).^[6] The additional seven players were chosen by head coach Dominic Kinnear of Houston and the Commissioner Don Garber.

2009 MLS All-Star Game Rosters

Major League Soccer

The 2009 MLS All-Star First XI was announced in a special episode of MLSnet.com Extra Time, which aired 3 p.m. ET on Monday, July 13, 2009. On the following Monday, July 20, 2009, All-Star coach Dominic Kinnear and his assistants chose five additional players, with MLS Commissioner Don Garber adding the two final players to the 18-man roster.^[7] The All-Stars are:

As of July 26, 2009. Players in bold denotes First XI status.^[8]Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   USA Zach Thornton ^ 2 DF   COL Wilman Conde 4 DF   MLI Bakary Soumare & 5 MF   USA Kyle Beckerman ♦ 7 MF   CAN Will Johnson % 8 MF   SWE Freddie Ljungberg 9 FW   USA Conor Casey 10 FW   USA Landon Donovan 11 MF   USA Brad Davis ♣ 14 DF   USA Chad Marshall 15 MF   USA Davy Arnaud ♣ 17 FW   COL Fredy Montero ♣

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 GK   USA Kasey Keller 20 DF   USA Geoff Cameron 22 MF   USA Stuart Holden 34 DF   COL Jhon Kennedy Hurtado ♣ 70 MF   MEX Cuauhtémoc Blanco ‡ 77 MF   ARG Javier Morales ♦ 80 GK   CAN Pat Onstad ♣^ 88 MF   GRN Shalrie Joseph % 90 MF   CAN Dwayne De Rosario † 97 MF   ARG Guillermo Barros Schelotto 99 FW   USA Brian Ching ♣&

† - De Rosario was not available for the 2009 MLS All-Star game due to a Toronto FC CONCACAF Champions League game.

‡ - Blanco was chosen to take the place of De Rosario, being the next-highest vote getter in the midfield position.

♦ - "Commissioner's Picks", chosen by MLS Commissioner Don Garber.^[8]

♣ - Players selected by All-Star Coach Dominic Kinnear.^[9]

% - Johnson is an injury replacement for Joseph who suffered a bone bruise in his right knee.^[10]

& - Soumare was a replacement for Ching, who was rested after he competed in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup with the US national team.^[10]

^ - Zach Thornton replaced Pat Onstad due to injury.^[11]

The following players fell short of the MLS All-Star First XI in voting:^[7]

• Goalkeepers:
  • Pat Onstad - 2.09% Fan votes, 3.11% Player votes, 2.53% Media votes, 6.36% Coach/GM votes
• Defenders:
  • Jhon Kennedy Hurtado - 5.42% Fan votes, 2.87% Player votes, 5.70% Media votes, 4.55% Coach/GM votes
  • Jonathan Bornstein - 1.80% Fan votes, 3.71% Player votes, 5.70% Media votes, 7.27% Coach/GM votes
• Midfielders:
  • Cuauhtémoc Blanco - 3.93% Fan votes, 2.75% Player votes, 11.08% Media votes, 4.09% Coach/GM votes
  • Ricardo Clark - 2.03% Fan votes, 5.86% Player votes, 4.75% Media votes, 8.18% Coach/GM votes
  • Osvaldo Alonso - 5.34% Fan votes, 2.39% Player votes, 7.28% Media votes, 3.18% Coach/GM votes
  • Paulo Nagamura - 1.02% Fan votes, 4.67% Player votes, 2.85% Media votes, 9.55% Coach/GM votes
• Forwards:
  • Fredy Montero - 6.39% Fan votes, 6.22% Player votes, 12.98% Media votes, 5.46% Coach/GM votes
  • Brian McBride - 3.40% Fan votes, 8.49% Player votes, 3.48% Media votes, 6.82% Coach/GM votes

Everton

As of July 12, 2009.^[12]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   ENG Carlo Nash 2 DF   ENG Tony Hibbert 3 DF   ENG Leighton Baines 4 DF   NGA Joseph Yobo 5 DF   ENG Joleon Lescott 6 DF   ENG Phil Jagielka 9 FW   FRA Louis Saha 10 MF   ESP Mikel Arteta 11 FW   BRA Jô (on loan from Manchester City) 12 GK   SCO Iain Turner 14 FW   ENG James Vaughan 17 MF   AUS Tim Cahill 18 MF   ENG Phil Neville (captain) 20 MF   RSA Steven Pienaar

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF   ENG Leon Osman 22 FW   NGA Yakubu 24 GK   USA Tim Howard 25 MF   BEL Marouane Fellaini 26 MF   ENG Jack Rodwell 27 FW   POL Lukas Jutkiewicz 28 FW   NGA Victor Anichebe 30 GK   ENG John Ruddy 31 DF   IRL Séamus Coleman 32 MF   ENG Dan Gosling 35 FW   ENG Kieran Agard ^[13] 37 FW   ENG Jose Baxter 38 MF   ENG James Wallace — DF   GER Shkodran Mustafi

Match details

2009 MLS All-Star Game

July 29, 2009

21:25 EDT

MLS All-Stars	1–1	Everton
Davis   26'		Saha   12'
Penalties
Donovan   Davis   Arnaud   Johnson   Casey   Ljungberg	3–4	Vaughan   Jô   Baines   Neville   Lescott   Rodwell

Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah

Attendance: 20,124

Referee: Ricardo Salazar (United States)

MLS All-Stars

Everton

GK 18   Kasey Keller   46'   62' DF 20   Geoff Cameron DF 14   Chad Marshall   46' DF 2   Wilman Conde   63' MF 22   Stuart Holden   63' MF 5   Kyle Beckerman   46' MF 8   Freddie Ljungberg (c) MF 11   Brad Davis FW 17   Fredy Montero   46' FW 9   Conor Casey FW 70   Cuauhtémoc Blanco   63' Substitutes: GK 1   Zach Thornton   46'   62' DF 4   Bakary Soumare   46' DF 34   Jhon Kennedy Hurtado   63' MF 7   Will Johnson   46' MF 15   Davy Arnaud   63' MF 77   Javier Morales   63' FW 10   Landon Donovan   46' Manager:   Dominic Kinnear

GK 24   Tim Howard DF 3   Leighton Baines DF 2   Tony Hibbert DF 5   Joleon Lescott DF 4   Joseph Yobo MF 17   Tim Cahill   76' MF 26   Jack Rodwell   78' MF 25   Marouane Fellaini   56' MF 18   Phil Neville (c) MF 21   Leon Osman   76' FW 9   Louis Saha   76' Substitutes: GK 1   Carlo Nash MF 38   James Wallace   76' FW 14   James Vaughan   76' FW 11   Jô   56' FW 22   Yakubu FW 37   Jose Baxter   76' Manager:   David Moyes

Man of the Match:   Tim Howard Assistant referees:   Joe Fletcher   Philippe Briere Fourth official:   Terry Vaughn

Statistics

	MLS	Everton
Goals scored	1	1
Total shots	21	6
Shots on target	8	3
Total Saves	2	7
Fouls	17	17
Offsides	2	1
Corner kicks	5	2
Yellow cards	0	1
Red cards	0	0

Notes

• The 2009 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the first to be played in the state of Utah.
• For the first time, AT&T was the official sponsor of the All-Star Game.
• This was the sixth time that the league's best players faced international competition in the MLS All-Star Game.
• The game was broadcast in the US on ESPN2 in English and TeleFutura in Spanish.^[4]
• This was the first All-Star match to be decided via penalty kicks.^[2]
• This was the first time the MLS All-Stars were defeated by an international opponent^[2]
• Early the next year, Landon Donovan would join Everton on a loan deal, and then again in early 2012.

References

1. "MLS All-Stars to face Everton FC in 2009 MLS All-Star Game". CBC. April 28, 2009. Retrieved April 29, 2009.
2. Winner, Andrew (July 30, 2009). . Major League Soccer Communications. Archived from the original on August 2, 2009. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
3. Major League Soccer: News: Article July 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
4. Butler, Dylan (May 23, 2009). "Voting open for MLS All-Stars First XI". MLSNet.com. Retrieved May 27, 2009.^{[permanent dead link]}
5. Butler, Dylan (May 26, 2009). . MLSNet.com. Archived from the original on May 29, 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
6. "MLS's First XI All-Stars". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
7. . MLSNet.com. July 13, 2009. Archived from the original on July 16, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2009.
8. . MLSNet.com. July 15, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
9. . MLSNet.com. July 20, 2009. Archived from the original on July 24, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
10. http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090725&content_id=6051606&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp^{[permanent dead link]}
11. http://web.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20090727&content_id=6087668&vkey=pr_cdc&fext=.jsp&team=t120^{[permanent dead link]}
12. . Everton F.C. Archived from the original on January 18, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
13. Kieran Agard is also eligible for Jamaica.